Power of Will

By
FRANK CHANNING HADDOCK, M.S., PH.D.
_______________________________________________________________________

Copyright 1907, by FRANK C. HADDOCK

AUBURNDALE, MASS.
Copyright 1907,
REGISTERED AT STATIONERS HALL,
LONDON, ENGLAND.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
J F TAPLEY CO. NEW YORK
TO
George Russell Eager
UNWAVERING FRIEND
MASTER OF INITIATIVE
INSPIRATION

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PREFACE

THIS book comes to you as a Well-wisher, a Teacher, and a Prophet.

It will become a Teacher if you will honestly try to secure mental reaction upon it; that is,
if you will resolve to THINK, to Think with it and to Think into it.
It will be Prophet of a higher and more successful living if you will persistently and
intelligently follow its requirements, for this will make yourself a more complete
"Manual of the Perfected Will".
But remember! This book cannot think for you;
THAT IS THE TASK OF YOUR MIND.
This book cannot give you greater power of Will;
THAT IS FOR YOURSELF TO ACQUIRE BY THE RIGHT USE OF ITS CONTENTS.
This book cannot hold you to persistence in self culture;
THAT IS THE TEST OF YOUR WILL.
This book is not magical. It promises nothing occult or mysterious. It is simply a call to
practical and scientific work.
If you will steadfastly go on through the requirements marked out, this book will develop
within you highest wishes of welfare for self, it will make you a teacher of self, it will
inspire you as a prophet of self brought to largest efficiency.
ALL NOW RESTS WITH YOU

Statement of General Principles

1. The goal of evolution is psychic person. Person acts behind the mask of body. The
basic idea of person is self determined unfoldment. The central factor in such
unfoldment is Will. Will is a way person has of being and doing. A certain
complex of our ways of being and doing constitutes mind.
Mind operates on two levels: one on that of awareness, the other on that of the
subconscious. In the subconscious realm of person the evolutionary phases of
heredity, habit, established processes, exhibit. In the field of awareness the phase
of variation, both by reason of external stimulus and by reason of psychic
freedom, appears.
But organized person is inherently restless. The Will exhibits the law of
discontent. Restlessness of organism develops Will. Person unfolds by control and
use of Will. The Will must take itself in hand for greatest personal completeness.
2. Personal life is a play between powers without and powers within the central
function of Will. Personal life ends in subjection to such external powers, or rises
to mastery over them.
3. The Will grows by directed exercise. Exercise involves the use of its own
instruments; body, mind, the world. The only method which can strengthen and
ennoble Will is that which puts into action itself in conjunction with its furniture.
This method, persistently followed, is certain to give to the Will mighty power,
and to enlarge and enrich person.

The Science of Our Present Ideal

The goal of the book before you may be presented by the following quotations from
"Brain and Personality," by William Hanna Thomson, M.D.:
"A stimulus to nervous matter effects a change in the matter by calling forth a reaction in
it. This change may be exceedingly slight after the first stimulus, but each repetition of
the stimulus increases the change, with its following specific reaction, until by constant
repetition a permanent alteration in the nervous matter stimulated occurs, which produces
a fixed habitual way of working in it. In other words, the nervous matter acquires a
special way of working, that is, of function, by habit.
"From the facts which we have been reviewing, we arrive at one of the most important of
all conclusions, namely, that the gray matter of our brains is actually plastic and capable
of being fashioned. It need not be left with only the slender equipment of functions which
Nature gives it at birth. Instead, it can be fashioned artificially, that is, by education, so
that it may acquire very many new functions or capacities which never come by birth nor
by inheritance, but which can be stamped upon it as so many physical alterations in its
protoplasmic substance.
"This well demonstrated truth is of far reaching significance, because it gives an entirely
new aspect to the momentous subject of Education." It would seem to be perfectly
evident that the more direct the efforts of education become, that is to say, the more
surely attention is concentrated upon the alteration for improvement of nervous matter
and the development of mental powers rather than to the mastering of objective studies,
many of which must prove of little benefit in actual life, the more nearly will education
approach its true goal, power in self and ability for successful handling of self with all its
powers. This is the method of The Power-Book Library, the ideal of which is, not
mastery of books, but sovereign use of the growing self. Most persons conceive of
education vaguely as only mental, a training of the mind as such, with small thought that
it involves physical changes in the brain itself ere it can become real and permanent. But
as perfect examples of education as can be named are ultimately dependent upon the
sound condition of certain portions of the gray matter which have been educated for each
work. The brain must be modified by every process of true special education.
We can make our own brains, so far as special mental functions or aptitudes are
concerned, if only we have Wills strong enough to take the trouble. By practice, practice,
practice, the Will stimulus will not only organize brain centers to perform new functions,
but will project new connecting, or, as they are technically called, association fibres,
which will make nerve centers work together as they could not without being thus
associated. Each such self created brain center requires great labor to make it, because
nothing but the prolonged exertion of the personal Will can fashion anything of the kind."
And, since the use of any human power tends to its growth, such labor as that suggested

in the pages of this book cannot fail both to develop brain centers and also to unfold
mind's power in Will.
It is the masterful personal Will which makes the brain human. By a human brain we
mean one which has been slowly fashioned into an instrument by which the personality
can recognize and know all things physical, from the composition of a pebble to the
elements of a fixed star. It is the Will alone which can make material seats for mind, and
when made they are the most personal things in the body.
In thus making an instrument for the mind to use, the Will is higher than the Mind, and
hence its rightful prerogative is to govern and direct the mind, just as it is the prerogative
of the mind to govern and direct the body.
It is the Will, as the ranking official of all in man, who should now step forward to take
the command. We cannot overestimate the priceless value of such direction, when
completely effective, for the life of the individual in this world. A mind always broken in
to the sway of the Will, and therefore thinking according to Will, and not according to
reflex action, constitutes a purposive life. A man who habitually thinks according to
purpose, will then speak according to purpose; and who will care to measure strength
with such a man?
In short, the world has yet to learn, once for all, that men are not to be justified nor
condemned by such superficial things about them as their opinions. Set the will right first,
and men's opinions will follow suit, as soon as they have opportunities for knowing
better; but the will remaining perverted, not the opportunities for knowing of an eternity
will avail.
In fact man reigns here below only because he is responsible, and it is his will alone
which makes him responsible.
Not a few of those whom they have known started out apparently well equipped, so far as
mental gifts and opportunities for education and of social position could enable them to
go far and ascend But one by one they lagged and suffered themselves to be outstripped
by others, whom perhaps few suspected at the start would reach the first rank before
them, because they appeared so much inferior in mental powers to the men whom
ultimately they outdistanced wholly. Will direction explains it all. What is the finest
mental machine in this life without will power?
That majestic endowment (the Will) constitutes the high privilege granted to each man
apparently to test how much the man will make of himself. It is clothed with 'powers'
which will enable him to obtain the greatest of all possessions; self possession. Self
possession implies the capacity for self restraint, self compulsion and self direction; and
he who has these, if he live long enough, can have any other possessions that he wants.
And so, in the foregoing, you discover the reason and need for training your power to
will. "It is the will that makes the man."

Your brain matter is your sole workshop for success in this world, and possibly the next
too. What you do with this mysterious substance, the lines of action which you open up in
it, the freedom with which thought processes are allowed to operate, the skill and
swiftness with which you transform the mind's energy into visible reality, all rests with
your will. You have in your brain an inexhaustible wealth. You can so develop your
power of will that it will command the luxuries, the accomplishments, the marked
successes, which potentially lie dormant in every human being.
Well spake the philosopher who said: "You are the architect of your own career." But the
real wonder worker that builds your life structure in this world is: POWER OF WILL.

The Will and Success

The Will and Its Action
There has been altogether too much talk about the secret of success. Success has no
secret. Her voice is forever ringing through the marketplace and crying in the wilderness,
and the burden of her cry is one word, will. Any man who hears and heeds that cry is
equipped fully to climb to the very heights of life. If there is one thing I have tried to do
through these years it is to indent in the minds of the men of America the living fact that
when they give Will the reins and say 'Drive!' they are headed toward the heights, - Dr.
Russell H. Conwell.
The human Will involves mysteries which have never been fathomed. As a "faculty" of
mind it is, nevertheless, a familiar and practical reality. There are those who deny man's
spiritual nature, but no one calls in question the existence of this power. While
differences obtain among writers as to its source, its constitution, its functions, its
limitations, its freedom, all concede that the Will itself is an actual part of the mind of
man, and that its place and uses in our life are of transcendent importance.
Disagreements as to interpretations do not destroy facts.
The Will is sometimes defined as the "faculty of conscious, and especially of deliberative
action." Whether the word "conscious" is essential to the definition may be questioned.
Some actions which are unconscious are, nevertheless, probably expressions of the Will;
and some involuntary acts, are certainly conscious. All voluntary acts are deliberative, for
deliberation may proceed "with the swiftness of lightning," as the saying goes, but both
deliberation and its attendant actions are not always conscious. A better definition of the
Will, therefore, is "THE POWER OF SELF DIRECTION."
This power acts in conjunction with feeling and knowledge, but is not to be identified
with them as a matter of definition. Nor ought it to be confounded with desire, nor with
the moral sense. One may feel without willing, and one may will contrary to feeling. So
the Will may proceed either with knowledge or in opposition thereto, or, indeed, in a
manner indifferent. Oftentimes desires are experienced which are unaccompanied by acts
of Will, and the moral sense frequently becomes the sole occasion of willing, or it is set
aside by the Will, whatever the ethical dictates in the case.

PRESENT DEFINITIONS

The Will is a way a person has of being and doing, by which itself and the body in which
it dwells are directed. It is not the Will that wills, any more than it is the perceptive
powers that perceive, or the faculty of imagination that pictures mental images.
The Will is "the Soul Itself Exercising Self Direction."
"By the term Will in the narrower sense," says Royce. "one very commonly means so
much of our mental life as involves the attentive guidance of our conduct." When person
employs this instrumental power, it puts forth a Volition. A Volition is the willing power
in action.
All Volitions are thus secondary mental commands for appropriate mental or physical
acts. Obedience of mind or body to Volitions exhibits the power of the Will.
No one wills the impossible for himself. One cannot will to raise a paralyzed arm, nor to
fly in the air without machinery. In such cases there may be desire to act, but always
mind refuses to will, that is, to put forth a Volition, which is a secondary command, when
obedience, of the mind itself, or of the body, is known to lie beyond the range of the
possible.
The Will may be regarded as both Static and Dynamic. In the one case it is a Power of
Person to originate and direct human activities; in the other case, it is action of person for
these ends.
Thus, one is said to be possessed of a strong Will (the static) when he is capable of
exerting his mind with great force in a Volition or in a series of Volitions. The quality of
his Will is manifest in the force and persistence of his Volitions or his acts. The
manifested Will then becomes dynamic: his Volitions are the actions of the mind in self
direction.
Hence, the Will is to be regarded as an energy, and, according to its degree as such, it is
weak, or fairly developed, or very great. It is related of Muley Molue, the Moorish leader
that, when lying ill, almost worn out by incurable disease, a battle took place between his
troops and the Portuguese, when, starting from his litter at the great crisis of the fight, he
rallied his army, led them to victory, and then instantly sank exhausted, and expired."
Here was an exhibition of stored up Will power. So, also, Blondin, the rope walker, said:
"One day I signed an agreement to wheel a barrow along a rope on a given day. A day or
two before I was seized with lumbago. I called in my medical man, and told him I must
be cured by a certain day; not only because I should lose what I hoped to earn, but also
forfeit a large sum. I got no better, and the evening before the day of the exploit, he
argued against my thinking of carrying out my agreement. Next morning when I was no

better, the doctor forbade my getting up. I told him, 'What do I want with your advice? If
you cannot cure me, of what good is your advice?'
When I got to the place, there was the doctor, protesting I was unfit for the exploit. I went
on, though I felt like a frog with my back. I got ready my pole and barrow, took hold of
the handles and wheeled it along the rope as well as ever I did. When I got to the end I
wheeled it back again, and when this was done I was a frog again.
What made me that I could wheel the barrow? It was my reserve Will. Power of Will is,
first, mental capacity for a single volitional act: A powerful Will, as the saying is, means
the mind's ability to throw great energy into a given command for action, by itself, or by
the body, or by other beings. This is what Emerson calls "the spasm to collect and swing
the whole man."
The mind may, in this respect, be compared to an electric battery; discharges of force
depend upon the size and makeup of the instrument; large amounts of force may be
accumulated within it; and by proper manipulation an electric current of great strength
may be obtained. There are minds that seem capable of huge exercise of Will power in
single acts and under peculiar circumstances, as by the insane when enraged, or by
ordinary people under the influence of excessive fear, or by exceptional individuals
normally possessed of remarkable mental energy. So, power of Will may, as it were, be
regarded as capable of accumulation. It may be looked upon as an energy which is
susceptible of increase in quantity and of development in quality.
The Will is not only a dynamic force in mind, it is also secondly, a power of persistent
adherence to a purpose, be that purpose temporary and not remote, or abiding and far
afield in the future; whether it pertain to a small area of action or to a wide complexity of
interests involving a lifelong career. But what it is in persistence must depend upon what
it is in any single average act of Volition. The Will may exhibit enormous energy in
isolated instances while utterly weak with reference to a continuous course of conduct or
any great purpose in life. A mind that is weak in its average Volitions is incapable of
sustained willing through a long series of actions or with reference to a remote purpose.
The cultivation, therefore, of the Dynamic Will is essential to the possession of volitional
power for a successful life.
"A chain is no stronger than its weakest link." Development of Will has no other highway
than absolute adherence to wise and intelligent resolutions. The conduct of life hinges on
the Will, but the Will depends upon the man. Ultimately it is never other than his own
election. At this point appears the paradox of the Will: The Will is the soul's power of
self direction; yet the soul must decide how and for what purposes this power shall be
exercised.
It is in such a paradox that questions of moral freedom have their origin. The freedom of
the Will is a vexed problem, and can here receive only superficial discussion. The case
seems to be clear enough, but it is too metaphysical for these pages.

Present Theory of Will

"The Will," says a French writer," is to choose in order to act." This is not strictly true,
for the Will does not choose at all. The person chooses. But in a general or loose way the
Will may be now defined as a power to choose what the man shall do.
The choice is always followed by volition, and Volition by appropriate action. To say that
we choose to act in a certain way, while abstaining from so doing, is simple to say either
that, at the instant of so abstaining, we do not choose, or that we cease to choose.
We always do what we actually choose to do, so far as mental and physical ability permit.
When they do not permit, we may desire, but we do not choose in the sense of willing. In
this sense choice involves some reason, and such reason must always be sufficient in
order to induce person to will.
A Sufficient Reason is a motive which the person approves as ground of action. This
approval precedes the act of willing, that is, the Volition. The act of willing, therefore,
involves choice among motives as its necessary precedent, and decision based upon such
selection. When the mind approves a motive, that is, constitutes it Sufficient Reason for
its action in willing, it has thereby chosen the appropriate act obedient to willing. The
mind frequently recognizes what, at first thought, might be regarded as Sufficient Reason
for Volition, yet refrains from putting forth that Volition. In thus case other motives have
instantaneously, perhaps unconsciously, constituted Sufficient Reason for inaction, or for
action opposed to that immediately before considered.
We thus perceive four steps connected with the act of willing:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Presentation in mind of something that may be done;

Presentation in mind of motives or reasons relating to what may be done;
The rise in mind of Sufficient Reason;
Putting forth in mind of Volition corresponding to Sufficient Reason

As Professor Josiah Royce remarks in "Outlines of Psychology," "We not only observe
and feel our own doings and attitudes as a mass of inner facts, viewed all together, but in
particular we attend to them with greater or less care, selecting now these, now those
tendencies to action as the central objects in our experience of our own desires." "To
attend to any action or to any tendency to action, to any desire, or to any passion, is the
same thing as 'to select,' or 'to choose,' or 'to prefer,' or 'to take serious interest in,' just
that tendency or deed. And such attentive (and practical) preference of one course of
conduct, or of one tendency or desire, as against all others present to our minds at any
time, is called a voluntary act." This is in effect the view of the author taken ten years
before the writing of the first edition of the present work.

A motive is an appeal to person for Volition. "A motive cannot be identified with the
Volition to act, for it is the reason of the Volition. The identification of motives and
Volitions would involve us in the absurdity of holding that we have as many Volitions as
motives, which would result in plain contradiction." And, it may also be remarked, a
motive is not an irresistible tendency, an irresistible tendency is not a desire, and a desire
is not a Volition. In short, it is impossible to identify a Volition or act of Will with
anything else. It is an act, sui generis.
But while motives must be constituted Sufficient Reasons for willing, the reason is not a
cause; it is merely an occasion. The cause of the act of Will is the person, free to select a
reason for Volition. The occasion of the action of Volition in mind is solely the motive
approved.
Motives are conditions; they are not causes. The testimony that they are not determining
conditions stands on the validity of the moral consciousness. The word "ought" always
preaches freedom, defying gospelers and metaphysicians of every pagan field.
FREEDOM
Moreover, the phrase "freedom of will" is tautology, and the phrase "bondage of will" is
contradiction of terms. To speak of the freedom of the Will is simply to speak of the
Will's existence. A person without power to decide what he shall do is not a complete
organism.
Will may not exist, but if there is any Will in mind, it is free.
Will may be weak, but within the limitations of weakness, freedom nevertheless obtains.
No bondage exists in the power of person to will somewhat. Bondage may obtain in the
man, by reason of physical disorders, or of mental incapacity, or of moral perversion, or
perhaps, of environment. For the Will "does not sensate: that is done by the senses; it
does not cognize: that is done by the intellect; it does not crave or loathe an object of
choice: that is done by the affections; it does not judge of the nature, or value, or qualities
of an object: that is done by the intellect; it does not moralize on the right or wrong of an
object, or of an act of choice: that is done by the conscience (loosely speaking): it does
not select the object to be chosen or to be refused, and set it out distinct and defined.
Known and discriminated from all others, and thus made ready, after passing under the
review of all the other faculties, to be chosen or refused by the Will: for this act of
selecting has already been done by the intellect."
The operations of the sense perceptions, of the intellect and of the moral powers may thus
be inadequate, and there may be great difficulty in deliberating among motives, and even
inability to decide which motive shall rule, but these weaknesses obtain in the mind or the
man, they do not inhere in the Will. This does not surrender the freedom of the Will by
shifting it from a faculty the definition of which makes it free to the person which may or
may not be free, because any bondage of person has before it actual freedom as the result
of development, education and moral influences. The action of Will is not determined by

motive but by condition of person and to a degree, except under the oppression of
disease, the person may always raise any motive to the dignity of Sufficient Reason.
Most people experience some bondage to evil, but the bondage of evil lies in the fact that
the evil self tends to select a motive whose moral quality is of a like character.
Accountability springs from this, that evil has been permitted to establish that tendency.
A force endowed with intelligence, capable of forming purposes and pursuing self-chosen
ends may neglect those rules of action which alone can guide it safely, and thus at last
wholly miss the natural ends of its being."
As Samuel Johnson says: "By trusting to impressions a man may gradually come to yield
to them and at length be subject to them so as not to be a free agent or, what is the same
thing in effect, to suppose that he is not a free agent."
As to the doctrine of necessity, no man believes it. If a man should give me arguments
that I did not see, though I could not answer them, should I believe that I did not see?
Hence the sway and the value of moral character in the arena of Will. A person of right
character tends to constitute right motives Sufficient Reason for Volitions.
The Will, therefore, is under law for it is a part of the universal system of things. It must
obey the general laws of man's being, must be true to the laws of its own nature. A
lawless Will can have no assignable object of existence. As a function in mind it is
subject to the influences of the individual character, of environment and of ethical
realities. But in itself it discloses that all Volitions are connected with motives or reasons,
that every Volition has its sufficient Reason, and that no Volition is determined solely by
any given reason. To suppose the Will to act otherwise than as required by these laws is
to destroy its meaning. A lawless Volition is not a free Volition, it is no Volition. Lawless
Volition is caprice. Capricious Volitions indicate a mind subject to indeterminate
influences. When an individual is in such a state, we say that he is a slave, because he is
without power to act intelligently for a definite purpose and according to a self chosen
end.
Will is not free if it is not self caused, but to be self caused, in any true sense, it must act
according to the laws of its own being. Law is the essence of freedom. Whatever is free is
so because it is capable of acting out unhindered the laws of its nature.
The Will cannot transcend itself. It is not necessary that it should transcend its own nature
in order to be free. A bird is free to fly, but not to pass its life under water. A bird with a
broken wing cannot fly; nevertheless flight is of the freedom of bird-nature. And
limitations upon bird-nature are not limitations upon such freedom. Induced limited states
of individual minds cannot set aside the free ability of Will to act according to its
fundamental nature.
The following, written of Howard the philanthropist, is a good illustration of the Will (a)
as static, (b) as dynamic, (c) as an energy, (d) as controlled by the mind, (e) as free, and
(f) as determined by character, what the individual makes himself to be: The (c) energy of

his (a) determination was so great, that if, instead of being habitual, it had been (b) shown
only for a short time on particular occasions, it would have appeared a vehement
impetuosity; but, by being unintermitted, it had an equability of manner which scarcely
appeared to exceed the tone of a calm constancy, it was so totally the reverse of anything
like turbulence or agitation. It was the calmness of an intensity, (d) kept uniform by the
nature of the human mind forbidding it to be more and by the (f) character of the
individual (e) forbidding it to be less."
Howard was an illustration of Emerson's meaning when he said: "There can be no driving
force, except through the conversion of the man into his Will, making him the Will, and
the Will him." Human nature is a huge commentary on this remark. Man's driving force,
conquering fate, is the energy of the free Will.
Said Dr. Edward H. Clarke: "The Will or Ego who is only known by his volitions, is a
constitutional monarch, whose authority within certain limits is acknowledged throughout
the system. If he chooses, like most monarchs, to extend his dominions and enlarge his
power, he can do so. By a judicious exercise of his authority, employing direct rather than
indirect measures, he can make every organ his cheerful subject. If, on the other hand, he
is careless of his position, sluggish and weary of constant vigilance and labor, he will find
his authority slipping from him, and himself the slave of his ganglia."
That you have a great world of opportunity awaiting your determination to possess it, is
evidenced by this stirring view from the pen of C.G. Leland. "Now the man who can
develop his will, has it in his power not only to control his moral nature to any extent, but
also to call into action or realize very extraordinary states of mind that is faculties,
talents, or abilities which he never suspected to be within his reach. All that Man has ever
attributed to the Invisible World without, lies, in fact, within him, and the magic key
which will confer the faculty of sight and the power to conquer is there.
We have now finished our brief survey of the theory of Will power. The idea has been to
make clear to you the place which Will power occupies in your life, to stimulate you to
an immediate, determined, and pleasurable, nay, profitable training in this kingly force
within your possession.
What this book shall accomplish for the reader depends solely upon himself.
Tests of Will
The seat of the Will seems to vary with the organ through which it is manifested; to
transport itself to different parts of the brain, as we may wish to recall a picture, a phrase,
or a melody; to throw its force on the muscles or the intellectual processes. Like the
general-in-chief, its place is everywhere in the field of action. It is the least like an
instrument of any of our faculties; the farthest removed from our conceptions of
mechanism and matter, as we commonly define them."- O.W.Holmeses.
The developed Will manifests itself, as has been suggested, in two general ways.

1. In an energetic single act; here it may be called the Dynamic Will. The Will so
acting is not necessarily ideal. Rousseau," says Carlyle, "has not depth or width,
nor calm force for difficulty; the first characteristic of true greatness. A
fundamental error, to call vehemence and rigidity strength! A man is not strong
who takes convulsion fits, though six men cannot hold him then. He that can walk
under the heaviest weight without staggering, he is the strong man."
2. In a series of acts conducted with force and related intelligently to a given end;
here the Static Will discharges in dynamic actions its store of accumulated power.
Acts of Will may be described as Explosive, Decisive, Impelling, Restraining,
Deliberative, Persistent. These forms of Will are exhibited in connection with Physical,
Mental, Moral states of the man.
Remembering that the Will is always the mind's power of self-direction, we now suggest
certain:
General Functions of Will
1. The strong Will is master of the body.
2. The right Will is lord of the mind's several acuities.
3. The perfect Will is high priest of the moral self

According to Your Will

Mastery of the body is frequently seen in remarkable instances of physical control. All
voluntarily acquired habits are examples. Though a given habit becomes automatic, it yet
represents a long and persistent application of Will, and, as often, perhaps, the present
exercise of Volition directing and maintaining actions that are apparently unconscious.
The singer's use of voice exhibits trained impulse; the musician's manipulation of his
fingers, habituated movements; the skilled rider's mastery of his limbs in most difficult
feats and unexpected situations, spontaneous response to mind; the eloquent orator,
celerity of muscular obedience to feeling. In all these and similar cases the Will must act,
coordinating particular movements with general details of Volition: with the ultimate
purpose in view. Indeed, the specific activities that make up the complex physical uses of
the human body in all trades of skill demand supervision of the Will as an adequate
explanation. The person may not be conscious of its sovereign acts, but it is the power
upon the throne.
Underlying those states of the soul of which it is immediately aware are conditions not
formulated in consciousness, which nevertheless constitute its highest powers. If these
exhibitions of "second nature" involved no immediate action of Will, the very exercise
and training of Will which look to their attainment would, so far forth, defeat the end in
view; they would weaken rather than develop Will.
The Unconscious or Subconscious Mind plays a vast role in human life. The reader is
referred to the author's work "Practical Psychology" for further study of that important
subject. The mind, again, has the power to summon, as it were, a special degree of
intensity of Will, and to throw this with great force into a particular act. This may be
done during a repetition of the act, while the repetition is going on "automatically," as it
is said. Does such intensity imply that no Will has hitherto been exerted? We know that
in such cases we put forth a more energetic Volition.
The human eye may be made to blaze by the application of Will power to the act of
gazing. The hearing may be made more acute by willing that all other sensations shall be
ruled out of consciousness. By focusing the attention upon the terminal nerves the sense
of touch is vastly quickened, as, for example, in the case of the blind. Muscular effort
accomplishing a certain amount of work while Will is but lightly applied, becomes
terrific when the whole man wills himself into the act.
Certain stimulations of mind, as fear, or love, or hate, or hope of reward, or religious
excitement, or musical influence, or insanity, rouse the Will at times to vast proportions
in its feats with muscle and limb.

The Olympic contests and modern exhibition games, rescues from fire or wave, woman's
defense of her offspring, prolonged exertion of political speakers and evangelists, and
Herculean achievements of enraged inmates of insane hospitals, furnish examples.
So, also, the Will accomplishes wonders through its power of inhibition. Under fear of
detection the hiding criminal simulates the stillness of death. Pride often represses the cry
of pain. In the presence of the desperately ill, love refuses the relief of tears. Irritated
nerves are controlled under maddening conditions. Certain nervous diseases can be cured
by the Will. Habits of the body, such as facial twitching, movements of the hands or
limbs, etc., are controlled, and mannerisms of private and public life are banished.
Sounds are shut out of consciousness in the act of reading. Strong appetites are denied
indulgence. Pronounced tendencies in general physical conduct are varied. Attitudes of
body are assumed and maintained at the cost of great pain.
Even more than is ordinarily supposed, the body is the servant of the. Will. The curious
thing here is that so little attention is given to the training of Will in this capacity.
The right Will is the lord of the mind's several faculties. A familiar example is seen in the
act of attention. Here the soul concentrates its energies upon a single object, or upon a
number of objects grouped together. A striking example may be noted in the fact that we
can smell either one of two odors, brought to the nostrils by means of paper tubes, in
preference to the other, by simply thinking about it. This is a good illustration of
abstraction induced by the Will. The degree of exclusiveness and force with which the
mind engages itself upon a single line of action represents the cultivation of the persistent
Will. If the Will is strong in this respect, it is probably strong in what is called
"compound attention," or that considering state of mind in which it holds deliberative
court among motives, facts, principles, means and methods relating to some possible end
of effort or goal of conduct.
Thus the person wills intense consciousness of physical acts or states. One, for example,
who studies profoundly the relation of physiology to psychology, exhibits great powers in
willed attention, embracing largest sensations, and taking note of minutest variations with
the greatest nicety. The child in learning to walk manifests admirable ability in this
regard. Vocal exercises demand utmost attention of mind to musical notes, their effects
upon the ear, and the manner and method of their attainment and execution. Musical
instruments are also mastered in this way alone. All use of tools and instruments makes
large demand upon the Will, and in proportion to their delicacy, complexity, and the
difficulty of handling properly, is this demand increased. "Great skill, great Will," may be
written as the general law in this regard.
So, also, as previously suggested, the power of the eye, ear and end nerves is frequently
increased by application of mental energy thrown forcibly into the sense perception
involved.

The action and capacity of the lungs may be developed by intelligent attention, a style of
walk may be cultivated, and habits of speech entirely reorganized. Where pronounced
ability in such cases has been acquired, the cost of willed attention has been enormous.
A test of Will may be further seen in the degree of attention exerted in reading. Much is
dignified as reading that is not so. In true reading the mind is focused upon the printed
page. Kossuth said, "I have a certain rule never to go on in reading anything with out
perfectly understanding what I read." That was true reading.
Equally concentrated must be the mind of the artist in painting, and that of the musician
in mastering a difficult composition. An artist who painted three hundred portraits during
a year, said: " When a sitter came, I looked at him attentively for half an hour, sketching
from time to time on the canvas. I wanted no more. I put away my canvas and was ready
for another sitter. When I wished to resume my first portrait, I took the man and sat him
in the chair, when I saw him as distinctly as if he had been before me in his own proper
person."
A similar story is elated of the sculptor David. Wishing to execute the bust of a dying
woman without alarming her, he called upon her as a jeweler's man, and in a few
moments secured a mental portrait of her features, which he afterward reproduced in
stone. So Blind Tom listened with "rapt attention" to a complicated musical composition,
and instantly repeated it, exactly as played before him, including errors. In part,
concentrated attention is the secret of genius.
In sustained thinking the Will manifests one of its noblest aspects. The mind must now
plunge into the depths of a subject, penetrate by driving force into its minutest details,
and follow out the ramifications of its utmost complexities, concentrating upon fact,
reality, relation, etc., with great power, and comparing, conjoining, separating, evolving,
with tireless persistency. Napoleon was gigantic in all these particulars. Senator
Carpenter, of Wisconsin, used to seclude himself in his law library the night before some
important case was docketed for trial, and feel, think and care for nothing else until
morning, utterly absorbed in the mastery of its problems.
So Byron was wont to immure himself with brandy and water and write for many
consecutive hours in the elaboration of his poems. The success of Hegel is in part
explained by the fact that he took a manuscript to his publishers in Jena on the very day
when the battle of that name was fought, and to his amazement, for he had heard or seen
nothing, he found French veterans, the victorious soldiers of Napoleon, in the streets.
Mohammed falling into lone trances on the mountains above Mecca, Paul in Arabia,
Dante in the woods of Fonte Abellana, and Bunyan in prison, form eloquent illustrations
of the necessity of mental seclusion and concentration in order to arrive at great mental
results."
It is familiarly known that one of the secrets of concentration is interest in the matter in
hand. But the mind's interest may be enhanced by persistent assertion of its power of
Will. Study, resolutely continued, bores into the subject considered, and, discovering new

features, finally induces absorbed attention of an increased degree. School work furnishes
many illustrations of this reward of Will. The mind may be wrought up, by long attention
to matters of thought, to a state of great activity. As with mechanical contrivances, so
with Will; initial movements of mind, weak at first, acquire by continuance an enhanced
power. "We can work ourselves up," as one has said, "into a loving mood, by forcing the
attention and the train of ideas upon all the kindness and affection that we have
experienced in the past."
Similarly in regard to other emotions and states of the soul. The activity of reasoning is
no exception. It is a mistake to suppose that great intellectual achievements are products
alone of what is called "inspiration." The processes of reasoning, composing, speaking,
all exhibit the power of Will to develop interest and beget a true inspiration as well as to
hold the mind in the grip of a subject. Lord Macaulay thus sought facility in the
preparation and writing of his History. Anthony Trollope made it a rule, while writing a
work of fiction, to turn off a fixed number of pages each day, and found his rule not a
hindrance, but a help. In jury trials advocates talk on for hours against some supposedly
obstinate juryman, and legislative halls frequently witness "speaking against time." In
both cases the orator's mind develops special and unexpected interest and power.
The strength of the Will is, again, notably shown in the action of memory. Mental energy
usually "charges" the soul by the process of " memorizing." But some facts are blazed
into the abiding self, as it were, by the power of great interest. The storing act of mind in
education, as it is commonly understood, requires Will in a very especial sense.
Listless repetition of lessons accomplishes little. Attention, concentration, the forcing of
interest, must take this kingdom by a kind of violence. A phrase like, "Remember! yes,
remember!" suggests the victorious attitude of mind.
Macaulay, fearing that his memory might fail, deliberately set himself to the task of its
test and further development. William H. Prescott, who wrote his histories with greatly
impaired eyesight, trained his memory so thoroughly that he could perform mentally the
work required for sixty pages before dictation. Francis Parkman and Charles Darwin
acquired prodigious memories under similar difficulties.
Some minds are naturally endowed with great powers in this respect, but the really useful
memories of the world exhibit the driving and sustaining action of Will.
Memory is always involved in imagination. The mind which is a blank as to its past can
form no memory pictures. In its noblest character, the imagination exhibits compulsion,
purpose, control. Milton must summon in luminous array the majestic images of Paradise
Lost. Does Angelo see his immortal shapes without the direction of Will? Do the
phantoms of the ideal world come unbidden to the arena of thought? Undoubtedly
fantasies and hallucinations may troop across the plains of mental vision in capricious
freedom, as when Luther saw the devil, or Goethe beheld in his sister's home a picture by
Ostade; and these may frequently tyrannize over the mind with terrible power, as when
Kipling's civilian of India became "possessed" by the " Phantom 'Rickshaw." But the

hallucinations of disease often yield to treatment of physical improvement and resolute

Will.
It is significant that Goethe, relating the experience above referred to, says: " This was
the first time that I discovered, in so high a degree, the gift, which I afterwards used with
more complete consciousness, of bringing before me the characteristics of this or that
great artist, to whose works I had devoted great attention." That the power of creating
such luminous mental vision can be acquired by strenuous Will may be doubted; but
there are minds that have frequent flashes of clear pictorial inner sight, in which objects
seem to appear with all the vividness of sunlit reality, although they can never command
this experience at will. If possessed, the gift, as Goethe calls it, is, however, subject to
summons and control, as seen in his case and in that of many artists. A secondary quality
of mental vision, in which ideas of things, more or less vague and confused, and similar
assemblages of objects, arise, is, by common testimony a matter of determined
cultivation.
Professions which require regular public speaking, as of the ministry or the law; the
massing of facts before the mind, as in the trial of jury cases; the forming of material
shapes and their organization into imaginary mechanisms, as in invention; the grasp of
details and comprehensive plans, as in large business enterprises and military operations;
all furnish illustrations of the truth that not original endowment alone, but energetic
exercise of Will, is requisite to success.
Ideas, relations, objects and combinations may be made more vivid and real by resolution
of mind and persistent practice. Failures in these fields are frequently due to the fact that
the Will does not force the mind to see things as details and as complex wholes. The
strong Will enables the mind to recall, with growing intensity, objects, mechanisms,
assemblages of facts and persons, outlines of territory, complex details and laws of
enterprise, and airy fancies and huge conceptions of the worlds of real life and of ideal
existence.
The imagination is the pioneer of progress in religion, industry, art and science; but as
such it is not a lawless necromancer without deliberate purpose. The spirit that summons,
guides and controls it is the soul's mysterious power of self direction. And this power is
equally susceptible of being so developed as to indicate selection and exclusion of
clamoring images.
Hence it would seem that the mind may train and develop its own power of willing.
When cultivation and improvement of Will are sought, we may say, "I will to will with
energy and decision! I will to persist in willing! I will to will intelligently and for a goal!
I will to exercise the Will according to the dictates of reason and of morals!"
Some men are born with what are called "strong Wills." If these are to be reasonable
Wills as well, they must be trained. For the most part Will would seem to develop and to
acquire some thing of the "sweet quality of reasonableness," under life processes which
are more or less unconscious and unpurposed so far as this end is concerned;

nevertheless, the exigencies of "getting on" are constant and unappreciated trainers.
Discipline knocks men about with ruthless jocularity. "A man who fails, and will not see
his faults, can never improve."
Here is a grim visaged, and oftentimes humorous schoolmaster who gives small pity to
his pupils. They must needs acquire some power of Will or demonstrate themselves, not
human, but blockheads. Much of life's suffering is due to the fact that force of Will is
neither developed nor trained by conscious intelligent effort, and is more often devoid
than possessed of rational moral quality.
This is a curious thing, that the Will is left, like Topsy, "to grow up." Why value this
power, yet take it "catch-as-catch-can"? Why hinge success upon it, yet give it so little
conscious attention? Why delegate its improvement to the indirection of "hard knocks,"
and disappointment cankering resolution, and misfortune making water of life's blooded
forces, and all manner of diseases destroying the fine fibre of mind's divine organism?
Why neglect the Will until consequence, another name for hell, oftentimes, has removed
"heaven" by the diameter of the universe?
James Tyson, a Bushman in Australia, died worth $25,000,000. "But," he said, with a
characteristic semi-exultant snap of the fingers, "the money is nothing. It was the little
game that was the fun!" Being asked once, "What was the little game? " he replied with
an energy of concentration peculiar to him " Fighting the desert. That has been my work.
I have been fighting the desert all my life, and I have won! I have put water where was no
water, and beef where was no beef. I have put fences where there were no fences, and
roads where there were no roads. Nothing can undo what I have done, and millions will
be happier for it after I am long dead and forgotten."
"The longer I live," said Fowell Buxton, whose name is connected in philanthropy with
that of Wilberforce, "the more certain I am that the great difference between men,
between the feeble and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is ENERGY,
INVINCIBLE DETERMINATION, a purpose once fixed, and then Death or Victory.
That quality will do anything that can be done in this world; and no talents, no
circumstances, no opportunities will make a two legged creature a MAN without it. "The
power, then, of such resistless energy should with resistless energy be cultivated.

When the Will fails, the battle is lost

The perfect Will is high Priest of the moral self. Indeed, a true cultivation of Will is not
possible without reference to highest reason or ideas of right. In the moral consciousness
alone is discovered the explanation of this faculty of the soul. A great Will may obtain
while moral considerations are ignored, but no perfection of Will can be attained
regardless of requirements of highest reason. The crowning phase of the Will is always
ethical.
Here is the empire of man's true constitution.
1. Resolute Will scorns the word "impossible."
2. The strong Will of large and prolonged persistence condemns whatever is
unreasonable.
3. Nobility of Will is seen in the question, "What is right?"
Napoleon exhibits the strong continuous Will. Washington illustrates the persistence of
moral resolution. Jesus incarnates the Will whose law is holiness.
The Will that possesses energy and persistence, but is wanting in reasonableness and
moral control, rules in its kingdom with the fool's industry and the fanatical obstinacy of
Philip the Second. "It was Philip's policy and pride to direct all the machinery of his
extensive empire, and to pull every string himself. The object, alike paltry and
impossible, of this ambition, bespoke the narrow mind." Thus has Motley described an
incarnation of perverted willfulness.
If the "King" will not train himself, how shall he demand obedience of his subjects, the
powers of body, mind and spirit? This is the "artist" of whom Lord Lytton sang: "All
things are thine estate; yet must Thou first display the title deeds, and sue the world. Be
strong; and trust High instincts more than all the creeds"
A recent writer along these lines puts it pithily when he says: "In respect to mere
mundane relations, the development and discipline of one's will power is of supreme
moment in relation to success in life. No man can ever estimate the power of will
It is a part of the divine nature, all of a piece with the power of creation. The
achievements of history have been the choices, the determinations, the creations, of the
human will. It was the will, quiet or pugnacious, gentle or grim, of men like Wilberforce
and Garrison, Goodyear and Cyrus Field, Bismark and Grant, that made them
indomitable. They simply would do what they planned. Such men can be no more
stopped than the sun can be, or the tide. Most men fail, not through lack of education or
agreeable personal qualities, but from lack of dogged determination, from lack of
dauntless will."

Yet it is always the righteous will which accomplishes the more lasting victories, the will
which demonstrates that all who grant its demands will be sharers in a mutual advance
and profit. The use of will power regardless of other interest "riding rough shod over
everything in its path" is headed for a precipice.

The Conduct of Life

Resolve is what makes a man manifest; not puny resolve, not crude determinations, not
errant purpose, but that strong and indefatigable Will which treads down difficulties and
danger, as a boy treads down the heaving frost lands of winter; which kindles his eye and
brain with a proud pulse beat toward the unattainable. Will makes men giants." - IK
Marvel
The thing that is, and creates human power, as the author remarks in "Business Power," is
the Will. Theoretically, the Will is the man. Practically, the Will is just a way the man has
of being and doing. The Will is man's inherent nature tendency to act to do something.
This tendency to act in some way must act on itself, take itself in hand so to speak, in
order that it may act intelligently, continuously, and with a purpose. Will is itself power;
but unfolded, controlled and directed power in man is Will self mastered, not man
mastered nor nature mastered. The man mastered and nature mastered Will goes with the
motive or impulse which is strongest. The self mastered Will goes with the motive which
the self makes greatest, and with mere impulse in very slight degree so far as the life of
intelligence is concerned. The self mastered Will can do anything, within reason; and
reason in this connection should be conceived in its highest human sense. The function of
Will is like that of steam. It must be powerful, under control, and properly directed. The
power of Will may be developed, but only through controlled and directed action. The
control may be acquired, but only through willed and directed action. The direction may
be determined, but only through willed and controlled action. When Will is self
developed, self mastered, self directed, it only needs proper application to become
practically all powerful.
Forms of Will
In the conduct of life every form in which the normal Will manifests itself is demanded
for success. These forms are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

The Persistent Will;

The Static Will;
The Impelling Will;
The Dynamic Will;
The Restraining Will;
The Explosive Will;
The Decisive Will.

The Static Will, or Will in reserve, constitutes original source of energy. As heat, light,
and life are rooted in the sun, so are varied Volitions sent forth from this central seat of
power, exhibiting the Dynamic Will.
The Explosive Will illustrates the mind's ability for quick and masterful summoning of
all its forces. The sudden rush of the whole soul in one compelling deed seems sometimes
next to omnipotence.
Persistence of Will involves "standing," sto - stare -- sistere, and "through" - per;
"standing through." The weakness of otherwise strong men may be revealed in life's
reactions. "Having done all, to stand," furnishes many a deciding test. This phase of Will
is not exhausted in the common saying, "sticking to it," for a barnacle sticks, and is
carried hither and thither on a ship's bottom. Persistence involves adherence to a purpose
clean through to a goal.
The abiding mind necessitates the Impelling Will. The Impelling Will suggests an ocean
liner, driving onward, right onward, through calm and storm, for a determined goal. Sixty
years of that kind of direct motion must summon Will to all its varied activities.
It is curious, too, that the noble quality of Will power observed in impelling persistence,
depends upon the paradox of restraint. An engine without control will wreck itself and its
connected machinery. The finest racing speed is achieved under bit and mastery. In man
the power that drives must hold back. The supremest type of man exhibits this as a
constant attitude. Success in life depends upon what the writers call the Will's power of
inhibition. Here we have the Restraining Will.
At times the character of Will is also manifest in its ability to forbid obedience to a
thousand appealing motives, and even to bring all action to a full stop and "back water,"
in order to a new decision, a new immediate or ultimate goal. Hence life is full of
demands for quick decisions and resistless massing of resources squarely upon the spur
of exigency. This suggests the Decisive Will
Such are some of the forms of Will which are required for the conduct of affairs, whether
ordinary or extraordinary. Even a slight analysis of the matter would seem to suggest that
there can be no tonic like the mental mood which resolves to will.
This One Thing I Do
Here is a treatment from deepest laboratories of the soul insuring health. A purposeful
mind says, sooner or later, "I RESOLVE TO WILL." After a time that phrase is in the air,
blows with the wind, shines in star and sun, sings with rivers and seas, whispers with
dreams of sleep and trumpets through the hurly-burly day. Eventually it becomes a
feeling of achievement saturating consciousness. The span knows now the end, because
all prophecies have one reading.

He has begotten the instinct of victory. It is not as a blind man, however, that he walks.
His ineradicable conviction sees with the eye of purpose. If his purpose is approvable at
the court of conscience, all roads lead to his Rome.
One Aim Victorious
Men fail for lack of Some Aim. Their desires cover the entire little field of life, and what
becomes theirs does so by accident. Multitudes of people are the beneficiaries of
blundering luck.
Everywhere Some Aim would make "hands" foremen, and foremen superintendents;
would conduct poverty to comfort, and comfort to wealth; would render men who are of
no value to society useful, and useful men indispensable.
The man who is indispensable owns the situation. The world is ruled by its servants. The
successful servant is king.
But better than Some Aim, which, because it need be neither long headed nor long lived,
is a player at a gaming table, is One Aim, by which all fortune is turned schoolmaster and
good fortune is labeled "reward by divine right." The true divine right of kings is here
alone.
The soul that resolves to will One Aim, makes heavy and imperious call on the nature of
things. For, while many understand that the individual must needs adjust himself to life,
few perceive the greater law, that life is forever engaged in a desperate struggle to adjust
itself to the individual. It is but required of him that he treat life with some degree of
dignity, and make his election and plea sure by putting mind in the masterful spell of
some One ultimate Aim to which all things else shall be subordinated.
Some Aim has luck on its side. One Aim has law. Some Aim may achieve large things,
and occasionally it does; One Aim cannot fail to make the nature of things its prime
minister.
Life does not always yield the One Aim its boon in exact terms of desire, because men
often fall at cross purposes with endowment; but life never fails to grant all the equities in
any given case.
In the long run every man gets in life about what he deserves. The vision of that truth
embraces many things which the objector will not see. The objector mistakes what he
desires for what he deserves.
Hence the importance of self discovery in life's conduct. It is probably true that every
man has some one supreme possibility within his makeup. The purposeful Will usually
discovers what it is.

Buried talents are always "fool's gold." One thing settled -- the Ultimate Aim -- and
talents begin to emerge by a divine fiat.
The revelation of power may, indeed, be made while Will roams in quest of a purpose,
but, that purpose found, Will looks for its means and methods; and discovers them
within.
William Pitt was in fact born with a definite aim in life. "From a child," says a recent
writer, "he was made to realize that a great career was expected of him, worthy of his
renowned father. This was the keynote of all his instruction."
General Grant is said to have been called "Useless Grant" by his mother. He discovered
himself at Shiloh, after some pottering with hides and leather which was not even
preliminary, but Grant always "stuck to the thing in hand," so far as it was worth while
doing so. When war brought his awareness of self to the point of definite meaning, he
found every detail and the largest campaigns eminently worth the while of a Will which
had at last uncovered its high way." The great thing about him," said Lincoln, "is cool
persistency of purpose. He is not easily excited, and he has got the grip of a bulldog.
When he once gets his teeth in, nothing can shake him off."
The One Aim is always a commentary on character. It is not difficult to see why life
needs Some Aim. Why it should concentrate upon One Aim suggests the whole
philosophy of human existence. Nero had One Aim, and it destroyed the half of Rome.
Alexander the Great had One Aim and he died in a debauch. The One Aim may involve
selfishness, crimes, massacres, anarchy, universal war, civilization hurled to chaos. One
Aim assassinated Garfield, ruined Spain, inaugurated the Massacre of Saint
Bartholomew, gave birth to the "unspeakable Turk," devised a system of enmity against
existing orders and institutions, threatens to throw Europe into revolutionary carnage,
and, in a thousand ways, has power to light the pyre of civilization's destruction. One
Aim is no more descriptive of Heaven than it is of Hell.
The climax of Will, therefore, is possible under moral considerations alone. Character,
which is the sum total of a man's good (moral) qualities, furnishes a third phrasing for
Will's purpose, the Righteous Aim.
The Highest Aim
Will with Righteous Aim creates character. Character, with Righteous Will, creates
Noblest Aim. Character, with Noblest Aim, creates Righteous Will.
The relation between the man, the aim, the Will, is dependent and productive. There is
really no high justification for One Aim if it be not best aim. Life is ethical. Its motives
and its means and its achievements justify only in aims converging to its utmost moral
quality.

It is here that possession of Will finds explanation, as elsewhere remarked. Below man
there is no supreme sovereignty of Will; all is relative and reflex. But this sovereignty
furnishes its reason in moral self development, in moral community relations, in moral
oneness with Deity.
So true is it that righteousness alone justifies the existence of the human Will that the
fittest development of the power comes of its moral exercise. Above the martyr who
founds a material government the world places with eager zeal that soul who establishes
by his death a kingdom of religion.
The Static Will furnishes energy in abnormal life. The Explosive Will murders. The
Persistent Will may exhibit in obstinacy and national crimes. The Impelling Will is
sometimes hugely reckless. The Restraining Will has its phases in "mulishness" and
stupidity. The Decisive Will is frequently guilty of wondrous foolhardiness. Idiocy,
insanity, senility, savagery and various forms of induced mania represent the Will in
disorder, without a master and working pathos fathomless or tragic horror.
If, then, we ask, "Why One Aim in life?" The names of Socrates, Buddha, Charlemagne,
Alfred the Great, William of Orange, Gladstone, Washington, Wilberforce, Lincoln, may
be offset by those of Caligula, the Medici, Lucretia Borgia, Philip the Second. Asking,
"Why the Righteous Aim?" troop before the mind's expanding eye all holy heroes and
movements "in the tide of time"; and no counterpoise appears, for all is great, all is good.
Moral purpose, however, is no prestidigitator. The Will, set on all good things for
ultimate goal, is still merely the mind's power of self-direction. All requisites for strong
Will anywhere are demands here. Inasmuch as the moral aim involves the whole of life.
Will, making for it, requires the ministry of cultivated perceptions: seeing things as they
are, especially right things; developed sensibilities: sensitive toward evil, capacious for
good; a large imagination: embracing details, qualities, consequences, reasons and
ultimate manifold objects; active, trained and just reasoning faculties: apprehending the
incentive, utility and inspiration of truth; and deep and rich moral consciousness:
nourishing the Will from inexhaustible fountains of legitimate self complacency.
In other words, the moral Will which alone is best Will, demands of its owner constant
and adequate consideration, of plan, of means, of methods, of immediate and ultimate
end.
The successful conduct of life is always hinged upon "This one thing I do." Where such
is really the law of conduct, the world beholds an aroused soul. "The first essential of
success," said a great bank president, "is the fear of God."
A live man is like a factory working on full time. Here is creation; every power at labor,
every function charged with energy, huge action dominating the entire situation, and
yielding valuable products. This man puts his body into the thing in hand, mightily
confident. His mental being does not detail itself off in "gangs," but swarms at it with that
tirelessness which makes enthusiasm a wonder. His intuitions flash, impel, restrain, urge

resistlessly, decide instantly, presiding genii of limited empires. Reasoning faculties mass
upon questions vital, and hold clear court, till justice be known. If he be right souled man,
he emerges, Will at the fore, from Decalogue and Mountain Sermon daily, squaring
enterprise with the Infinite.
The whole man, swinging a great Will, conserves himself. Why must there be discussions
on selfishness and self-interest? A sound soul is always a best soul. A selfish soul is
never sound. But a sound soul must continue sound. Altruism begins with the self.
Society needs the whole man, all there is of him, and always at his best. Hence the nature
of things makes it law that a man shall endeavor to make the most of himself in every
way which is not inimical to soundness. This is the first principle of holiness, wholeness,
soundness. As that is worked into conduct, the second principle appears, Service.
For the service of a sound soul the Universe will pay any price. And here again emerge
some old and common rules. It is function of Will to resolve on preservation of bodily
health, mental integrity and growth, and moral development. In the eye of that high
resolution no detail is without importance. A trained Will regards every detail as a
campaign.

Drudgery and the Will

Power of Will is an accretion. Force is atoms actively aggregated. The strong Will is
omnivorous, feeding upon all things with little discrimination. Pebbles, no less than
boulders compose mountains. The man who cannot will to stick to trifles and bundle
them into importants, is now defeated. The keynote of success is drudgery.
Drudgery stands at every factory door, and looks out of every store window. If drudgery
be not some where in a book, it is not worth the reading. Inspiration stands tiptoe on the
back of poor drudgery. The antecedents of facile and swift art are the aches and sorrows
of drudgery. The resistance of angels collapses only after Jacob has found his thigh out of
joint, and yet cries: "I will not let thee go!" Jesus had to climb even Calvary.
An English Bishop said truly: "Of all work that produces results, nine-tenths must be
drudgery." Really great poets, prose-writers and artists verify this remark. Edmund Burke
bestowed upon his speeches and addresses an immense amount of painstaking toil.
Macaulay's History cost almost incalculable labor. The first Emperor of Germany was an
enormous worker. Indeed, taking the world "by and large," labor without genius is little
more incapable than genius without labor.
Kepler, the astronomer, carried on his investigations with prodigious labor. In calculating
an opposition of Mars, he filled ten folio pages with figures, and repeated the work ten
times, so that seven oppositions required a folio volume of 700 pages. It has been said
that "the discoveries of Kepler were secrets extorted from nature by the most profound
and laborious research."
It was the steadiness of Haydn's application to his art which made him one of the first of
modern musicians. He did not compose haphazard, but proceeded to his work regularly at
a fixed hour every day. These methods, with the extremest nicety of care in labor, gave
him a place by the side of Mozart, who, while possessed of the genius of facility, was
nevertheless thoroughly acquainted with drudgery.
And there can be no drudgery without patience, the ability to wait, constancy in exertion
with an eye on the goal. Here is a complex word which readily splits into fortitude,
endurance and expectation. It is kaleidoscopic in its variations. In the saint's character
patience is a lamb; in that which builds an industry or founds an empire, it is a
determined bulldog.
"Genius is patience," said Davy ; "what I am I have made myself." Grant was patient:
"Once his teeth got in, they never let go." The assiduous Will is first principle in
achievement, whether of men or nations. The indefatigable purpose is prophet of all
futures.

Put the "King on his Throne" (your Will) is no dull monarch of obstinacy. Reason defies
inertia. "We say that Will is strong whose aim," remarks Th. Ribot, "whatever it be, is
fixed. If circumstances change, means are changed; adaptations are successfully made, in
view of new environments; but the center toward which all converges does not change.
Its stability expresses the permanency of character in the individual."
All things come to the net of this rational indefatigability. As Carlyle says of Cromwell:
"'that such a man, with the eye to see, with the heart to dare, should advance, from post to
post, from victory to victory, till the Huntington Farmer became, by whatever name you
might call him, the acknowledged strongest man in England, requires no magic to explain
it. For this kind of man, on a shoemaker's bench or in the President's chair, is always
'Rex, Regulator, Roi' : or still better, 'King, Koenig,' which means Can-ning, Able man.
And this same adaptive pursuit of the main thing has made of Cromwell's and Carlyle's
England the First Power in Europe. As William Matthews has said: "The 'asthmatic
skeleton' (William HI.) who disputed, sword in hand, the bloody field of Landon,
succeeded at last, without winning a single great victory, in destroying the prestige of his
antagonist (Louis XIV.), exhausting his resources, and sewing the seeds of his final ruin,
simply by the superiority of British patience and perseverance. So, too, in the war of
giants waged with Napoleon, when all the great military powers of the continent went
down before the iron flail of the 'child of destiny,' like ninepins, England wearied him out
by her pertinacity, rather than by the brilliancy of her operations, triumphing by sheer
dogged determination over the greatest master of combination the world ever saw."
It was identically this that led, in American history, to the surrender of Cornwallis to
Washington, and to the last interview with Lee, a great soul, an heroic Christian fighter, a
consummate " Can-ning man, Able-man."
To a Will of this sort defeats are merely new lights on reason, and difficulties are fresh
gymnastics for development of colossal resolve, and discouragements are the goading
stimuli of titanic bursts of energy.
By means of a cord, which passes from his artificial hand up his right coat-sleeve, then
across his back, then down his left coat-sleeve to the remainder of his left arm, an
American editor has achieved success. He is enabled to close the fingers of his artificial
hand and grasp his pen. By keeping his left elbow bent, the tension of the string is
continued, and the artificial fingers hold the pen tightly, while the editor controls its
course over the paper by a movement of the upper arm and shoulder. By this means,
without arms, he has learned to write with the greatest ease, and more rapidly and legibly
than the average man of his age who has two good hands. For ten years, he has written
with this mechanical hand practically all of the editorials, and a very large amount of the
local and advertising matter that has gone into his paper."
"Suppose," said Lord Clarendon to Cyrus W. Field, talking about the proposed Atlantic
Cable, "you don't succeed? Suppose you make the attempt and fail, your cable is lost in

the sea, then what will you do?" "Charge it to profit and loss, and go to work to lay
another." To suppose the iron Will to fail is to suppose a contradiction of terms.
Perhaps no historic character has more perfectly illustrated this element of success than
William of Orange, to whom Holland the Wonderful owes more than to any other son in
her brilliant family. "Of the soldier's great virtues." writes Motley, "constancy in disaster,
devotion to duty, hopefulness in defeat, no man ever possessed a larger share. That with
no lieutenant of eminent valor or experience, save only his brother Louis, and with none
at all after that chieftain's death, William of Orange should succeed in baffling the efforts
of Alva, Requesens, Don John of Austria, and Alexander Farnese, men whose names are
among the most brilliant in the military annals of the world, is in itself sufficient evidence
of his warlike ability."
These men great and world famed, were, however, men only. They were but Intellects
working with the" King on his Throne." It is a statement which points every other man to
his ultimate goal that they achieved through that common endowment, power of Will.
The conduct of life hinges on the strength and quality of Will more than any other factor.
The cry for "opportunity" is essentially weak; opportunity crowds upon the imperious
Will. The mediocrity of men is too largely of their own creation.
Gladstone, with large faith in the "commoners," said truly: "In some sense and in some
effectual degree, there is in every man the material of good work in the world; in every
man, not only in those who are brilliant, not only in those who are quick, but in those
who are stolid, and even in those who are dull."
Every normal educated man, deep in his heart believes that by the proper conduct of his
life he can become great, or at least win a measure of success that puts him far ahead of
the mediocre millions. But as "rest and inertia" is the law of matter, he gradually gives in
to this law and is shackled by it. He becomes, speaking "in the large," too lazy to forge on
toward the higher goals. It is here that incessant use of will power is required.
"The education of the will should be begun, contradictory as it may seem, by assuring
yourself you can do what you wish to do, and assuring yourself on the principles of auto
suggestion. Of course no amount of will power can accomplish impossible aims. By
"what you wish to do" we mean the ambitions proper to your intelligence and place in
life. Not to set yourself an impossible task, is half the battle. A mighty will with no
intelligence behind it is foiled everywhere; and without scruple it becomes a menace to
the world's peace. So "choose right, and more forwards."

Diseases of the Will

Mechanical obedience (in the treatment of disease, and of mind as well as of body) is but
one half the battle; the patient must not only will, he must believe. The whole nature of
man must be brought to the task, moral as well as physical, for the seat of the disease is
not confined to the body; the vital energies are wasted; the Will, often the mind, are
impaired. Fidelity of the body is as nothing if not reinforced by fidelity of the soul." - Dr.
Salisbury.
The Will may become diseased. Disease is "want of ease," that is, of comfort, arising
from the failure of functions to act in a normal manner. It is then, "any disorder or
depraved condition or element," physical, mental or moral.
A disease of the Will may be defined as a more or less permanent lack of action, normal,
(a) to the individual, (b) to sound human nature in general. When a person's Will is more
or less permanently disordered with reference to his normal individual activity, we have a
case for medical treatment. When a person's Will is more or less permanently disordered
with reference to the normal human standard, we have a case for education.
It is now to be observed that a diseased condition of the Will may result:
First, from a diseased mind ;
Secondly, from an illy-developed mind;
Thirdly, from causes resident in the Will considered as a "faculty" of mind.
Strictly speaking, a disease of the Will is a disease of the self, inasmuch as it is the self
that wills. But there are phases of the Will, practically to be regarded as diseases, which
manifest themselves in the midst of otherwise normal conditions of mind, and these are,
therefore, mentioned under the third division above.
Classes of Diseased Will
Class First:
Diseases of Will coming under the head of diseased mind are shown in insanity. In
almost all cases of mental variation from the normal standard, the Will is more or less
affected. This follows because insanity is "a prolonged departure of the individual's
normal standard of thinking, feeling and acting." The standard is that of the individual,
not that of normal human nature. Always the action of the Will depends largely upon the
individual's way of thinking and feeling. Insanity often clearly defines, and thus separates
from, diseases of Will in the so called normal mind. In cases of insanity the Will,
considered as power in mind to put forth some kind of Volition, may remain with more or

less strength, but is either weakened or controlled by physiological conditions or false

ideas. The " King" is here dethroned. In diseases of Will which are subject to education
not medical, the " King " remains in his normal position as ruler, but is weak, or erratic,
or permanently irrational as to the standard of average human conduct.
Class Second:
There are some cases of diseased Will in the illy-developed mind which show paralysis
of power, all other functions remaining normal. Thus, a sudden great emotion may
paralyze the volitional action, such as fear, or anger, or joy. Inability to will may also
obtain temporarily in reverie or ecstasy, or as seen in curious experiences common to
most people when the self wishes to act, but seems for the time unable to put forth the
necessary Volition. Such paralysis runs all the way from momentary to prolonged or
total. In the latter cases we have again subjects for medical treatment, as when one person
was two hours in trying to get his coat off, or was unable to take a glass of water offered.
As is the Mind, so is the Will
Whether the difficulty in cases of illy-developed mind is physiological, or a mere lack of
belief in one's power to will a given act, the outcome is the same. For the time being, the
Will is dead, or the mind, as to willing, is in a state of deadlock. It cannot put forth a
Volition in the desired direction. Hence it is evident that feeling, desire, thinking,
judgment, conscience, are not always determinative of Will action. The action of mind in
willing is as distinct as the action of mind in imagining, recalling, reasoning, or
apprehending right and wrong. For example, why, in a state of indecision as to getting up
of a cold winter morning, do you suddenly find yourself shivering on the floor and
wondering how it happened that you are out of bed? It needs but to fix that state of
irresolution or inability for a period, to show the mind in a deadlock of the Will.
Willing is a matter of mental states. The illy-developed self may will neither correctly nor
strongly. Whether or not it can do so depends upon many things which are discussed in
the Third Part of this book. Of the mind in general it is said that "willing, in intensity
ranges up and down a scale in which are three degrees; wishing, purposing and
determining. Weak Volition wishes, resolute Volition purposes, while strong Volition
acts." But Volition does not wish; this is an act of mind. As one has said; "I may desire
meat, or ease from pain; but to say that I will meat or ease from pain is not English."
Weak Volition is the Will exerting itself weakly. Strong Volition indicates mental energy
in the act of willing. Resolute Volition is strong Volition continued. The facts in this
connection are as follows:
When the state of mind is predominantly that of desire merely, its act in willing may be
weak or indecisive. When the mind greatly approves a given desire and determines that to
be purpose, its Volition becomes strong. The energy with which itself or the body obeys
Volition, and if the purpose is remote, continues to obey, measures the intensity of the
willing act.

Now, what are called diseases of the Will under our second division, are simply illconditions of the self immediately going out in the act of willing, or of the mind engaged
in the realm of the sensibilities, the imagination, the reasoning faculties and the moral
consciousness, as realities capable of influencing the action of the Will.
For "the ultimate reason of choice is partly in the character, that is to say, in that which
constitutes the distinctive mark of the individual in the psychological sense, and
differentiates him from all other individuals in the same species," and partly in possible
ideals, following which he may more or less change that distinctive character.
"It is the general tone of the individual's feelings, the general tone of his organism, that is
the first and true motor. If this is lacking the individual cannot exercise Will at all. It is
precisely because this fundamental state is, according to the individual constitution,
stable or fluctuating, continuous or variable, strong or weak, that we have three principal
types of Will; strong, weak and intermittent, with all intermediate degrees and shades of
difference between the three. But these differences, we repeat, spring from the character
of the individual, and that depends upon his special constitution." And it is precisely
because "this fundamental state is, according to the individual constitution," subject to
education and improvement, so that, if fluctuating, it may become stable, if variable it
may become continuous, if weak, it may become strong, that this book is written.
A good Will may or may not act quickly: that depends upon the individual's constitution;
but it is marked by power when it does act.
A good Will may or may not persist: that depends upon the constitution and the dictates
of personal wisdom: but when personal wisdom succeeds in influence, the Will holds
steadfastly to the thing in hand.
The highest type of Will reveals "a mighty, irrepressible passion which controls all the
thoughts of the man. This passion is the man, the psychic expression of his constitution as
nature made it." Historic examples are seen in Caesar, Michael Angelo, Napoleon. In the
next lower grade the above harmony between the outer conduct and the inner purpose is
broken by various groups of tendencies, working together, but opposing the central
purpose. The man is switched off the main track. Francis Bacon was called "the greatest,
the wisest and the meanest of mankind," having diverged from the highest line of
rectitude, and Leonardo da Vinci, following Art, yet yielded to the seductions of his
inventive genius, and produced but one masterpiece.
A third grade is seen where two or more main purposes alternately sway the individual,
none ruling for long, each influencing the conduct in turn. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are
two beings in one person, each possessing a strong Will for himself, but unable to cope
with the tendencies of the other. A multiplication of such diverting purposes denotes a
still further degradation of the Will.
Lastly appear those types of diseased Will peculiar to insanity.

Class Third
In this division we have before us, not the mind as acting, but the willing act of the mind.
Whether the Will be exercised rightly or wrongly, wisely or foolishly, is not now the
question in hand. That question refers simply to Will power, or the naked Will; just as, if
an individual's muscular power were in question, the morality or the wisdom of its use
might be variously estimated, itself being swift or slow, weak or strong, capable of
endurance or easily exhausted. The Will is what it is, regardless of the direction or the
quality of its exercise.
Disease of Will, as considered in the third class, is limited to two general forms: want of
power and want of stability. But these general divisions resolve themselves into more
specific cases, as follows:
1. Want of Volitional Impulse: A state of mind in which the impulse to will is
wanting, is illustrated in the cases already cited, in which one could not get his
coat off; or in cases of reverie, ecstasy, etc., where the mind is so fully absorbed
by some fanciful condition as to be momentarily incapable of willing contrary
thereto.
Cure: Of insane cases, medical treatment, of those of reverie, ecstasy, and the like,
good health, full life, vigorous action. For the mind that suffers the deadlock of
Will there is no other remedy than actual, concrete life, and practical, strenuous
activity. Cultivate the Moods of Resolution and Decision. (See Training Of The
Will Continued: A Study Of Moods )
2. Inability to Decide: Some people never attain to a clear view of any situation; they
cannot see the essential details; they cannot weigh motives; they cannot forecast
the future; they are wanting in courage as to possible consequences; their
imagination is good for evils, but not for benefits: hence they can never, or rarely,
come to a definite, decisive determination. They drift; they do not act according to
specific determinations; they are creatures of momentary impulse; they are
automata, so far as concerns the ordinary affair: of life, and in its extraordinary
crises, they are as helpless as driftwood.
Cure: Cultivate the habit of concentrated attention to the thing in hand, pro and
con; resolve to will, anyhow, somehow, with the best light rapidly examined,
confident that such resolution, under the lessons of experience, will ultimately
come out best for individual interests.
"Sometimes a person encounters emergencies where he must make a decision,
although aware that it is not a mature decision, approved by the whole cabinet of
his mental powers. In that case he must bring all his comprehension and
comparison into active, instant exercise, and feel that he is making the best
decision he can at the time, and act. Many important decisions of life are of this
kind, off hand decisions."

And especially ought it to be remembered that "calling upon others for help in
forming a decision is worse than useless. A man must so train his habit as to rely
upon his own courage in moments of emergency." Act always on the straight line.
Cultivate the Mood of Decision.
3. Weakness of Volition: The failures of life, which are innumerable, are largely due
to this disorder of the Will. Whether it be owing to a want of feeling, desire,
imagination, memory or reason, it seems to be universal. The energetic person is
the exception. Thus, a writer on Mental Philosophy has described a historic
example of this prevalent disease; speaking of Coleridge. There was probably
never a man endowed with such remarkable gifts who accomplished so little that
was worthy of them, the great defect of his character being the want of Will to
turn his gifts to account; so that, with numerous gigantic projects constantly
floating in the mind, he never brought himself even seriously to attempt to
execute any one of them. It used to be said of him, that whenever either natural
obligation or voluntary undertaking made it his duty to do anything, the fact
seemed a sufficient reason for his not doing it."
So De Quincey, the celebrated victim of the opium habit, said in his
"Confessions":
"I seldom could prevail upon myself to write a letter; an answer of a few words, to
any that I received, was the utmost that I could accomplish; and often that not
until the letter had lain weeks, or even months on my writing-table."
Such are historic examples of Will power so weak as to be practically nil. They
are common in life, although seldom in so marked a degree as in the above cases.
This disease is the basis of all grades of poverty.
Cure.: Cultivate the sustained mental attitude, "I Resolve to Will!" The Resolute
Mood ought to be kept constantly before and in the mind, with inability to will as
the paramount reason for determining now to will with the greatest energy.
Cultivate the Mood of Energy.
4. Fickleness of Will: In this case the man is persistent so far as he goes, but he
never goes far in any one direction. In certain main or underlying lines of activity
he may show great apparent steadfastness, as in pursuing the means of a
livelihood, but these lines are necessitated and automatic or habitual, not really
the subjects of his Volitions. There are those too, who exhibit not even the dumb
adherence of labor, but fly from scheme to scheme, whether main or incidental, as
birds fly from tree to tree, with no long continued purpose, during the whole
course of life. In this class, the Will is subject to every new impulse.
Cure. The cautious beginning; the resolute pursuit of the undertaking to the end.
Minds thus afflicted should learn to attend to one thing at a time, not in the sense

that only a single iron should be kept in the fire, but that the iron should not be put
there without due deliberation, and that once in, it should receive undivided
attention so long as required by the end in view. Generally speaking, every
supposed reason for a change of action should be made a determining reason for
not changing. The extra schemes need not be given up; it is not necessary for any
person to settle down to the mere drudgery of existence; but, while following the
course of bread-winning, the mind should determine, resolve, SWEAR, to work
each theory or scheme to the end thereof.
Cultivate the Mood of Continuity.
5. Want of Perseverance: There is a marked difference between this condition of
Will and that of fickleness. Will is fickle because it yields to sudden or new
impulses. Want of perseverance is due to the fact that the Will wears out in any
given direction. It then becomes like a tired muscle; the mind refuses or fails to
volitionate with reference to an old purpose. Its characteristic phrase is, "I am
tired of the thing," or "I can't hold out in the effort." Resolution has simply run
down ; the Will has become exhausted.
Cure: The resolution to refrain from yielding permanently to such momentary
exhaustion; patience with the mind's present inertia; vigorous search, carried on
round about, for new points of view and new interest.
The saying, "I am tired of it," indicate, simply a temporary lack of interest; willed
interest has failed; but a new view or another mental attitude may inspire
spontaneous interest; hence, the matter should be held over until the search for
new interest has awakened a spontaneous action of the Will, which will almost
invariably follow. This cure is infallible; but it is by no means easy.
Cultivate the Moods of Understanding, Reason and Continuity.
6. The Explosive Will: Any explosion indicates want of equilibrium. Great temper,
unpremeditated crime, volcanic Volitions. are sudden releases of energy revealing
an overcharged or unbalanced nervous tone. With some men power is always in
what may be called a chemico-psychical state of instability. The Will leaps to its
decisions like an animal upon its prey, or rushes into action like a torrent from a
broken reservoir of water. There are exigencies of life which demand such
eruptive outgoes of Volition, but they are rare; and if this kind of Will is
characteristic, it surely indicates want of self control.
The true Will is a constitutional monarch, and is never ruled by mob influences or
despotic motives. The Will must control itself, or it is unfit to reign. It may decide
quickly and irresistibly, but without violent loosing of its powers. Ordinarily all
violence signifies weakness.

Cure: A healthy tone of the individuality, calmness cultivated, so as to be

maintainable in the direst extremity of feeling; a forecasting and vivid realization
of the reaction, sure to follow, and which will equal the outburst; a vigorous
repression, at the moment of temptation, of all feelings, letting them out in some
unimportant side issue; a determination to recall past experiences, and to profit
thereby.
Cultivate the Mood of Reason and Righteousness.
7. Obstinacy. We have here an excess of Will as set upon some particular act or
state. There are so called cases of obstinacy which exhibit a curious want of Will
power, but true obstinacy is firmness of Will carried beyond the dictates of reason
or right. The obstinate man always believes himself to be right in the matter at
hand. His weakness is his refusal to consider. He is willful, not because he is
perverse, but because he does not perceive the need for further investigation; the
case is with him all settled, and it is rightly settled; he alone is right, all others are
obstinate in their difference or their opposition. George the Third and Philip the
Second take first rank among incarnations of obstinacy.
Cure. The most minute, as well as the broadest, attention to reasons for or against;
greater weight given the judgment of others; the spirit of concession cultivated;
determination to swallow pride and yield to wisdom.
Cultivate the Spirit of Concession.
8. The Headstrong Will. The chief characteristic of this disease may be seen in the
expression, "I don't care." With neither patience, sentiment, nor reason, it rushes
the man on to a given act or a line of conduct, unmindful of warning, regardless of
self conviction. It is not only a case of obstinacy, but of heedlessness as well. It is
the Will self hypnotized by senseless desire. Napoleon on the way to Moscow is
the Headstrong Will.
Cure: Cultivation of humility; review of past experiences; resolute heed to the
advice of others; elevation into the field of thought of deepest personal
convictions; slow, crucifying attention to opposing motives and reasons.
Cultivate the Mood of Reason.
9. Perversity. The perverse Will is obstinate, but peculiarly set in wrong directions.
The Will that is obstinate merely may be fixed by wisdom and right (selfconceived), but perversity of Will shows itself in twisting the dictates of both, not
withstanding the mind's recognition of the same. Thousands of men are perversely
willful when they fully know that the course they are pursuing is foolish and
injurious. The Will is here strong, but it is used in a manner that is consciously
wrong.

Cure: Cultivation of memory as to past experiences, and of imagination as to

future; resolution to study previous consequences and to profit by them;
determination to force attention upon the opinions of others; persistent and candid
examination of one's own character and of the basic principles of human conduct,
which are few in number and easily mastered and committed to memory; a
condition of mind open to conviction kept steadily before thought; each matter
thought out, step by step, mere wish, as much as possible, being put out of the
way, and the question, "what is right or best?" substituted; willingness held fast to
give up when convinced.
As an assistance, the mind should change its point of view, get into a new
atmosphere of life, and bring about other physical conditions.
Cultivate the Moods of Reason and Righteousness
10. Lack of Confidence in Will: This cause is due to a lack of knowledge of the Will,
for the reason that a true knowledge of the will would mean immense confidence
in its powers. But, of itself, it is so important that it merits to be put down as a
special cause. Many will maladies would disappear if only we trusted in the will.
Its native force is so great, its recuperative power is so sure, and its resources so
unlimited that it is capable of achieving wonderful results. All that is needed is a
firm confidence in it. It is, as we have said, our highest and most perfect faculty. It
is the best thing we have, and the most effective weapon that we wield. It alone
can develop itself. As we saw, it cannot be trained or perfected from without. It
alone can cure its own diseases. The one essential thing is, however, that we
should place trust and confidence in it."
Cultivate confidence and belief in your own Will.
11. In General: The Will may be said to be diseased when the mind cannot patiently
attend; when the mind cannot clearly and persistently exercise memory; when the
mind cannot clearly and persistently exercise the imagination; when the mind
cannot clearly and persistently exercise the powers of reasoning; when the mind
will not call up, and reason in regard to, great moral principles. Because of these
failures arise weakness, indecision, fickleness, want of perseverance, violence,
obstinacy, headstrong willfulness and perversity.
Cure: Resolute cultivation of the willing mood, and faithful observance of all exercises
suggested in MENTAL REGIME.
St. Woodstock Ont. Canada

Training of the Will

The great thing in all education is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our
enemy. For this we must make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many
useful actions as we can, and as carefully guard against growing into ways that are likely
to be disadvantageous.
In the acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving off of an old one, we must take care to
launch ourselves with as strong and decided an initiative as possible. Never suffer an
exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life.
Seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make, and on
every emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of the habits you aspire
to gain." - Professor William James.
The power of person in Will may be trained and developed, as has been suggested.
By this statement is meant, not only that it may be exercised and strengthened by the
various agencies of command, encouragement, and instruction in the schoolroom, but that
ability to originate a purposeful action, and to continue a series of actions with an end in
view, may be cultivated and disciplined by personal attention thereto, and by specific
exercises undertaken by the individual. The need of such development and training is
evident from the following facts:
Not infrequently a strong volitional power originally exists, but lies dormant for want of
being called into exercise, and here it is that judicious training can work its greatest
wonders.
In many persons Will power is confessedly weak, life being very largely, so to speak,
automatic. And in multitudes the Will exhibits the disorders mentioned in the chapter on
"Diseases of the Will."
It is singular that so little would seem to have been written on this important subject, and
that the training of the Will should now receive, as it does, such scant attention in modern
educational methods. In woks on psychology and education, paragraphs may be found
here and there indicating the importance of Will training, but they are curiously deficient
in suggestions of methods referring the matter to personal effort.
The education of the Will is really of far greater importance, as shaping the destiny of the
individual, than that of the intellect. Theory and doctrine, and inculcation of laws and
propositions, will never of themselves lead to the uniform habit of right action. It is by
doing, that we learn to do; by overcoming, that we learn to overcome; by obeying reason
and conscience, that we learn to obey: and every right action which we cause to spring

out of pure principles, whether by authority, precept or example, will have a greater
weight in the formation of character than all the theory in the world.
Education of the mind's powers should not be left to haphazard methods. If the end of
education is the evolution of these powers, methods of the direct gymnasium order are in
demand. And, as all mental faculties are mutual in interaction, any scientific method
which seeks, by specific gymnasium exercises, the development of one faculty, must
result in cultivation of others, whether immediately or remotely related thereto.
Principles in Will Training
1. Any direct effort to cultivate the perceptive powers must affect the growth of
memory, imagination and reason.
2. Any direct effort to cultivate the memory must affect the growth of the perceptive
powers, imagination and reason.
3. Any direct effort to cultivate the imagination must affect the growth of the
perceptive powers, memory and reason.
4. Any direct effort to cultivate the reasoning powers must affect the perceptive
powers, memory and imagination.
5. Any direct effort to cultivate the moral faculties must affect the growth of the
perceptive powers, memory, imagination and reason.
6. And any direct effort to cultivate the perceptive powers, memory, imagination,
reasoning or moral faculties must affect the growth of the Will.
Yet the application of definite and scientific methods to the discipline and growth of the
perceptive powers, the imagination, the memory and the reason seems to be largely
wanting in all the schools.
The Will Grows by Exercise
In what school today are classes formed for the education of the power of observation?
Where is scientific attention given to the cultivation of the imagination? What college
schedules any definite number of hours to the strengthening and training of the memory
Probably nowhere in the world are there any specific efforts made to increase and train
the power of the Will.
It is the claim of the present work that the Will may be made stronger by the employment
of proper methods. And this, (a) as a static power through deliberated and intelligent
exercises; (b) as a dynamic energy continuing through a series of acts by deliberate and
intelligent determination that such shall be the case.
Cultivation of The Will May be Accomplished
First, by systematic exercises which shall tend to strengthen it as a faculty. Activity of the
brain reacts upon the particular faculty engaged, to speak more specially, upon the

particular brain element engaged, modifying it in some unknown way, and bringing about
a subsequent "physiological disposition " to act in a particular manner.
Thus, musicians acquire enormous facility in the use of hands and finger. So, people who
have lost their sight are able to picture visible objects independently of external
stimulation, having acquired "a disposition so to act through previous exercises under
external stimulation."
As the seat of the Will is the whole person, so the exercise of willing brings about its own
physiological disposition. "The different parts of the brain which are exercised together,
acquire in some way a disposition to conjoint action along lines of 'least resistance,' that
are gradually formed for nervous action by the repeated flow of nerve energy in certain
definite directions." "Lines of least resistance," may be formed by constant action of
mind in willing, in certain ways and for certain ends. "The Cerebrum of man grows to the
modes of thought in which it is habitually exercised."
But the development of Will not only involves establishment of facility along easiest
channels, but an increase in power within the person as determining to choose motives
and to put forth Volitions. The willing act becomes more facile, and it also becomes
stronger. Increase of power is not relative alone; it is equally positive.
Will grows by exercise. Each form of its activity becomes more perfect by practice. And
the lower forms of exercise in bodily movement prepare the way, to some extent at least,
for the higher exercises."
So it is that habits may be voluntarily or unconsciously formed, and old habits may be
voluntarily abandoned. All such results involve the Will. Their attainment does not
weaken Will, but rather strengthens its application to general conduct.
"It is well for our actions to grow habituated to a considerable extent. In this way nerve
energy is economized and the powers of the mind are left free for other matters. At the
same time, much of our life consists in modifying our movements and adapting them to
new circumstances. The growth of Will implies thus a twofold process: (a) the deepening
of particular aptitudes and tendencies, that is, the fixing of oft repeated action in a
definite and unvarying form; (b) the widening of these active capabilities by a constant
variation of old actions, by new adaptations, or special combinations suited to the
particular circumstances of the time."
Secondly, the Will may be cultivated by general improvement of the mind as a whole,
giving it greater force while putting forth Volitions, and larger continuity in a series of
Volitions having an end in view, because of increased mental power and wiser treatment
of various motives; and this especially if, in all intellectual growth, the purpose of
stronger Will power be kept constantly in mind.
"The Will can never originate any form of mental activity." But it can select among the
objects of consciousness, and in thus utilizing the powers of mind can improve the latter.

Its efforts to do so will invariably improve itself: by cultivating attention, by shutting out
subjects of thought, by developing natural gifts, by instituting correct habits of thinking
and of living.
Exercises for a general development of mind must present a variety of motives for
consideration with a view to the act of willing, both for the formation of aptitudes, and
for the symmetrical development of the Will as a function. This involves:
1. The perceptive faculties, which may be quickened, thus increasing the vividness
of motives and inducing Volitions;
2. The emotions, the intelligent cultivation of which widens the range of motives
and imparts to the mind facility and force in selection of reasons for action;
3. The imagination, which represents, according to its strength and scope, various
remote and contingent, as well as immediate, reasons for choice of motives, and
adherence to the same;
4. The deliberative faculty, which requires cultivation in order adequately to weigh
the force and value of motives;
5. The intuitive faculty, which, without being able to furnish its reasons, frequently
impels or prohibits choice, and may wisely be cultivated by intelligent obedience,
but needs strict and constant attention to prevent the reign of impulse. Thus,
women are wont to follow intuitions of expediency, and business men are often
guided by a similar "feeling" or "judgment."
So, also, Socrates possessed what he called his " Daimonion," an inner voice
which forbade certain actions, but never affirmatively advised an act or a course
of conduct. Such "intuitions" may be searched out and examined for the
underlying reasons, and this effort will usually bring to light some hidden cause
for the impulse to act or refrain from action.
Thirdly, the Will may be cultivated by development of the moral character.
"The greatest man," said Seneca, "is he who chooses right with the most invincible
determination." Self development involves the moral quality and symmetry of the soul as
sustaining relations to its fellows and to Deity. The cultivation of Will in its highest
values, therefore, depends upon its exercise in a moral sense. This involves every
conscious mental function in action with reference to a moral end. A developed moral
consciousness modifies consideration of motives through perception, memory,
imagination, reason and "intuition," and increases the force and continuity of that act of
the mind by which it constitutes any motive a Sufficient Reason.
Moral development cultivates the Will:
1. By bringing to the fore truest motives and goals in the conduct of life;
2. By presenting in mind for its consideration new motives, and motives of an
unfamiliar nature;

3. By enabling self to deliberate with greater clearness, forethought and wisdom

among all possible motives for action;
4. By prohibiting certain acts or lines of conduct, and by destroying injurious habits;
5. By instituting self-control of the highest order;
6. By inspiring a constant search for truth, and obedience thereto;
7. By inciting to noblest planes of being and holding before consciousness the great
alternatives of human destiny for ultimate good or evil.

Training of the Will

Luther said to Erasmus: "You desire to walk upon eggs without crushing them." The
latter replied: "I will not be unfaithful to the cause of Christ, at least so far as the age will
permit me." An untruthful Will in a scholar's brain.
"I will go to Worms," shouted Luther," though devils were combined against me as thick
as the tiles upon the housetops!" A Will which might have become disordered or illydeveloped but for the mighty moral character of the reformer.
All human powers are interdependent and interactive. What has righteousness to do with
Will power? Answer: What has Will power to do with righteousness? Will makes for
righteousness; righteousness makes for Will.
A morally growing life establishes "lines of least resistance," with consequent aptitudes
and habits which more or less react upon personal power to will. Above all, at least in
this connection, it widens the field of active capabilities and develops new adaptations
and tendencies by presenting larger and more varied worlds of motive and conduct, with
an ultimate end having reference to the individual and his relations to others, which end
always appeals to the Will, calling it into activity, and so adding to its power.
The same truth may be reached from a material starting-point.
The basis of human life is physical. The original ground of impulse in the volitional
nature deals with sense impressions. In a healthy body these impressions are normal, that
is, true. When both body and mind are in a healthy condition, that is to say, are normal
and true, they will invariably cooperate, the one with the other.
Instinct coordinates with vital chemistry in normal animal life. Such life is true; it is a full
realization of itself; it exhibits truth; hence the instincts are right, because the physical
basis is right and cooperates with animal intelligence. Instinct and animal intelligence in
turn cooperate with the physical nature to maintain its normality or truth.
In man, mind ought to coordinate similarly with his physical life. Conversely, the
physical life ought to coordinate with mind. Physical health signifies right, that is,
truthful, physical sensations. And truthful, that is, normal, physical sensations tend

always to produce right or normal action of mind, just as normal or right action of mind
tends to produce good healthy truthful physical sensations. When sound mind cooperates
with correct sense impressions, the result is health, normality, truth in the whole man.
Mind is sensation plus perception, plus Will, plus memory, plus imagination, plus reason,
plus consciousness (self consciousness, sub consciousness, moral consciousness.)
The Will Grows by Exercise
If mind is deficient in any of these respects the personality is not normal. The end of each
function is nothing more nor less than exhibition of truth; perception of things as they are,
memory of facts as they have existed, imagination of reality in true relations, conclusions
correctly deduced from correct premises and correct observation, convictions based in the
actual moral nature of things, sane ideas of self, vigorous action of subconsciousness,
habituating in activities conducive to self interest, working of objective consciousness for
mental freedom. Then there is a perfect coordination among all the elements of human
nature and character. This coordination produces, and it is, health, normality, truth.
Out of such a truth condition of being comes always the highest form of Will power. The
Will is an exhibition of the character, the individual constitution. Righteousness, which is
right wiseness toward all powers and all realities, becomes then, the sole true developer
and trainer of the human Will. The unrighteous mind is sure to exhibit disease or disorder
of the Will, because the act of Will, as already seen, involves presentation of motives,
deliberation among the same, constitution of Sufficient Reason, putting forth of the
volitional act, and mental or bodily obedience thereto; and the mind which lacks in right
wiseness cannot properly deliberate among motives, will miss from its field the best
motives, and thus cannot wisely constitute Sufficient Reason. Hence, such inability
continuing, exercise of Will must surely establish habits of weak or disordered Volition,
as well as Volitions put forth in wrong directions, so that in time all disorders must
become chronic and settle into types of Will that fail to manifest normality and truth.
Observe: The law abiding physical life is absolutely best; all below weakens Will. The
truth-showing mental life is absolutely best; all below disorganizes the Will. The
righteous moral life is absolutely best; all below destroys the dynamic power of Will.
Will power issuing from good physical, mental and moral Health, wherein right
coordination obtains, gives to life's endeavors resistless force, and finds training in all
intelligent activity. The more it toils, the more it resolves. No obstacle can deter it, no
defeat dismay.
Said John Ledyard, the Explorer: "My distresses have been greater than I have owned, or
will own, to any man. I have known hunger and nakedness to the utmost extremity of
human suffering; I have known what it is to have food given me as charity to a madman;
and I have at times been obliged to shelter myself under the miseries of that character to
avoid a heavier calamity. Such evils are terrible to bear, but they have never yet had the
power to turn me from my purpose."

But observe: "He is spoken of as a man of iron Will, sure to make his way, to carry his
point, and he thinks himself a man of strong Will. He is only an egotist, morally unable to
resist, or even to hesitate at, any evil whereby his selfish aim is assured."
"Energy, without integrity and a soul of goodness, may only represent the embodied
principle of evil. It is observed by Novalis, in his 'thoughts on Morals,' that the ideal of
moral perfection has no more dangerous rival to contend with than the ideal of the
highest strength and the most energetic life, the maximum of the barbarian, which needs
only a due admixture of pride, ambition, and selfishness, to be a perfect ideal of the
devil."
Nothing schools the will, and renders it ready for effort in this complex world, better than
accustoming it to face disagreeable things. Professor James advises all to do something
occasionally for no other reason than that they would rather not do it, if it is nothing more
than giving up a seat in a street car. He likens such effort to the insurance a man pays on
his house. He has something he can fall back upon in time of trouble. A will schooled in
this way is always ready to respond, no matter how great the emergency. Julius Caesar,
Oliver Cromwell, George Washington, and all other world-famous men have been the
possessors of wills that acted in the line of the greatest resistance, with as much seeming
ease as if the action were agreeable."
You should resolve to secure such a grade of will by doing disagreeable things, or things
of apparent insignificance which ordinarily you shirk doing. Every lifting of a weight by
the biceps is adding muscular power to your arms; every little act of will deliberately
carried to completion is adding to your power of will.
"The powers of the human intellect," says Professor E.S. Creasy in "Fifteen Decisive
Battles," "are rarely more strongly displayed than they are in the commander who
regulates, arrays, and wields at his Will these masses of armed disputants (in battle); who,
cool, yet daring in the midst of peril, reflects on all and provides for all, ever ready with
fresh resources and designs, as the vicissitudes of the storm of slaughter require." But
these qualities, however high they may appear, are to be found in the basest as well as the
noblest of mankind. Catiline was as brave a soldier as Leonidas, and a much better
officer. Alva surpassed the Prince of Orange in the field; and Suwarrow was the military
superior of Kosciusco.
To adopt the emphatic words of Byron

T'is the cause makes all,

Degrades or hallows courage in its fall.

The law of the right Will is the law of the all round symmetrical character.

Training of the Will Continued: A Study of Moods

The man who is perpetually hesitating which of two things he will do first will do neither.
The man who resolves, but suffers his resolution to be changed by the first counter
suggestion of a friend, who fluctuates from opinion to opinion, from plan to plan, and
veers like a weathercock to every point of the compass, with every breath of caprice that
blows, can never accomplish anything real or useful. It is only the man who carries into
his pursuits that great quality which Lucan ascribes to Caesar, nescia virtus stare loco,
who first consults wisely, then resolves firmly, and then executes his purpose with
inflexible perseverance, undismayed by those petty difficulties which daunt a weaker
spirit, that can advance to eminence in any line." - William Wirt.
Man's conscious life is largely a matter of mood: of mind, heart, soul, spirit, a temporary
muse inspiring the individual to be or to do in certain ways. A mood is a disposition or
humor, a morbid condition of mind, a heat of anger, a kind of zeal, a capricious state of
feeling.
"The weaker emotive states," says Titchener in "An Outline of Psychology," "which
persist for some time together, are termed moods; the stronger, which exhaust the
organism in a comparatively short time, are called passions. Thus the mood of
cheerfulness represents the emotion of joy; the mood of depression that of sorrow. Like
and dislike have the moods of content and discontent; sympathy and antipathy, those of
kindliness and sulkiness; attraction and repulsion, those of 'charm' and tedium. The mood
of care is anxiety; the mood of melancholy, gloom. The mood of hatred is 'not getting on
with' a person; the mood of exasperation is chagrin."
The above are merely examples of a very familiar subject. Many of our moods are good
and indispensable to our best work, as, the mood of labor, the mood for creation, the
mood of hopefulness, the mood of mastery, and so on. Every evil mood may be banished
from mind and life. The method is simply that of persistent determination to conquer and
build up only such moods as stand for personal welfare. Your undesirable moods will
vanish if you multiply yourself faithfully into the pages of this book. The end requires
work, to be sure, but, as Orison Swett Marden remarks in "Every Man a King," "Training
under pressure is the finest discipline in the world. You know what is right and what you
ought to do, even when you do not feel like doing it. This is the time to get a firm grip on
yourself, to bold yourself steadily to your task, no matter how hard or disagreeable it may
be. Keep up this rigid discipline day after day and week after week, and you will soon
learn the art of arts-perfect self-mastery."
Summary of Moods
Moods are, therefore: First, special states of mental person in general; secondly states of
reference to the action of the Will. Their influence never ceases during consciousness. As
the individual is servant or master of his moods, he is servant or master of himself. The

sum total of moods exhibits the conscious and the subconscious man. Moods manifest in
the objective man, but they originate, in part at least, in that deeper self of which so little
is directly known, the subconscious.
No error is greater than that theory which makes mind the product of matter. The theory
is a "fad" and will soon pass away. An equal error is seen in the notion that the man's self
is an entity absolutely separate as an existence from the body. The man is spirit bound up
in body; both entities are real, but exist and manifest the one through the other.
What the connection is between body and spirit is a fathomless mystery; but that
connection stands for the mutual dependence of the physical and the immaterial in man.
There is as much evidence of the reality of the immaterial inner ego as of the existence of
an objective universe. And the demonstration of the physical man as an actual entity is
just as sure as the demonstration of the inner ego. All evidences go to show mutual
dependence, both for existence and for manifestation, of body and spirit.
These evidences cover, the influence of mind over body; the influence of body over mind
(over mind directly and over mind through bodily states), the mind affecting itself
intermediately by means of its influence upon the body. It is with the power of mind on
the body and itself that the present chapter deals.
Let it be understood, this book has nothing to do directly with any so-called "science of
healing," whether " Christian " or " Mental," except as immediately following:
All genuine cases of healing by these so called methods are results of "suggestion," either
by self or by others, by means of a great law as yet little understood.
"There are but two really distinct fundamental phases which the doctrine of metaphysical
healing has assumed, and to one or the other of these the varying special claims belong.
The first is the pure metaphysical idealism upon which the original 'Christian Science' is
based, the non-reality of the material world and sense-experience, and so of disease. The
second is the doctrine of what is properly called 'Mental Science,' which does not ignore
the reality of the physical world nor of the body and its sensations in their normal
relations to that world, but is based upon the recognition of the absolute supremacy of the
mind over them."
Know Thyself
Supposing it denies the material world, sense experience, disease, and evil or sin. Herein
are its errors manifest. To deny, yet seek to cure, disease, to deny, yet seek to eliminate
sin, disorganizes a normal dealing with life. To will that that which one believes or
strives to believe does not exist shall be one thing or another as to its states, is to dethrone
the normal Will. The Will volitionates only toward that which is believed to exist, never
toward that which is believed to be non existent.

The fact that body yields to suggestion in genuine cases of healing, may not show that
body exists, but it does show that one believes it exists. The belief that one believes it
does not exist is pure delusion.
It is impossible to will to change any physical condition which is really believed to be
non existent. It is equally impossible to will to eliminate sin, which is believed to be non
existent, and to take on holiness, the absence for one thing, of that which is believed to
have no existence, and the possession of those moral qualities, for a second thing, which
signify the shunning of that which is believed to have no existence. In all this we have the
willed influence of mental states over body which is denied and over mental states that
are believed to be without actuality. In other words, the Will, a power given to man to
guide him through realities, not fictitious imaginations fully understood to be non existent
as facts, is here dethroned as a normal faculty.
What is called " Mental Science " asserts the reality of matter, body, spirit, disease and
sin, but bases its theories upon the power of "mind over matter." Its error consists in
constructing a "science" on partial data and on laws which are but imperfectly
understood, and in asserting the "absolute supremacy" of "mind over body." The Will is
here set toward a claim which cannot be substantiated, the "absolute supremacy" of
"mind over body", which, indeed, is disproved, unless a multitude of facts in life are to be
willed out of the field of belief.
It is no province of Will to will a disbelief in plain facts. There are innumerable instances
which show that the "supremacy of mind over body" is not absolute. Moreover, the Will
here sets itself to the task of ignoring what are at least intermediate agencies for assisting
person to control bodily conditions. It may be that the supposed necessity for food is a
delusion, but the normal person at least employs the eating of food as an intermediate
means for exerting its influence over the physical organism.
Medical Science may be no true science, as yet, all and all but its treatments certainly
assist, if in no other way, in establishing right mental conditions for the action of self over
the body. Of course the necessity for foods is real. A genuine medicine is, in a large
sense, a food, " whatever sustains, augments, or supplies nourishment to organic bodies."
Some foods and some medicines are false, in themselves, or in particular applications. It
remains for, the normal person to select right foods and to use right medicines as parts of
the Present system of things, with the influence of mental states sought and cultivated as
being originated and maintained intermediately through the employment of that which is
real in itself and real in its power over belief. Medical Science needs to become less
empirical and materialistic, and "Mental Science" needs to enlarge its field by recognition
of facts and the medicinal utility of nature. We now return to the discussion of moods.

Division of Moods
First General Division of Moods
Special mental states of mind in general which exert various influences over the body.
"A process set up anywhere in the centers reverberates everywhere, and in some way or
other affects the organism throughout, making its activities either greater or lesser."
Sorrow increases the flow of tears. Anxiety may induce perspiration or the opposite.
Intense nervous anxiety or fear in a public speaker sometimes almost totally stops the
flow of saliva. It is now disclosed that great anger poisons the blood. Any great emotion
may increase or retard the circulation. Exaltation of feeling or thought frequently brings
about insensibility to pain. Great mental depression makes latent disorders patent. A
surgical operation causes some spectators to faint, and a noisome object may bring on
vomiting. By fixing the attention upon certain parts of the body the blood may be directed
to those parts. Muscular energy is increased by violent emotions, and is sometimes vastly
diminished, and is always made greater by an exertion of the Will.
The fury of the madman is accompanied by superhuman strength. Ideas frequently induce
actual physical sensations, as nausea at the thought of disgusting food, or the setting of
the teeth "on edge" at the thought of saw filing. Worry cultivates dyspepsia. Incessant
mental activity robs the body of assimilated nourishment. Disease may be incurred
through conditions of mind, and is often warded off by the same agency. Cheerfulness
and hope tend to tone up the entire system.
Similarly with the influence of states of person over mental activities Fear quickens some
intellects, but dulls others. Many persons can accomplish large things only under great
excitement, while with others excitement paralyzes the powers. Hate blinds all mental
faculties not immediately engaged in its gratification, but quickens the latter. Musicians
public speakers and exhibitors are greatly influenced by the psychic atmosphere about
them. Interest always increases the perceptive powers. The mind's ability to recall past
scenes, events and knowledge is increased by a clear brain and a healthy tone acted upon
by some pleasing emotion. The imagination is sometimes obscured or confused by
disease, sometimes made more powerful by the same, and is always rendered vigorous
and facile by exalted trains of thought. The logical faculties are swayed by the passions,
and dulled or sharpened as the mind seems sluggish or keen in other respects.
Consciousness of right or wrong often depends upon the mental tone of the individual.
Such illustrations disclose the value to life in general of an intelligent understanding of
psychic states. And among the mind's powers the Will is no exception to the sway of its
various moods. These considerations make clear the

Second Division of Moods

Mental states having direct reference to the act of willing.
The Will has its own moods, by which its functions may be analyzed, and by which it
may and ought to be cultivated and made to regulate itself in the highest manner. These
volitional moods are of importance because they are creative states and may be
maintained, thus exercising the Will and becoming permanent factors in the conduct of
life. They indicate person's attitude toward the act of willing, and so reveal, now the
individual nature, now the individual character. Brought into definite and abiding
thought, they will always assist in cultivating both the Will's power and its stability. It is
the function of Will to regulate them. Hence, no better means of cultivating and training
the Will itself can be devised than the deliberate and intelligent control of volitional
moods. For if the will can control such peculiar mental states, a determination to do so
must increase power of Will and direct it into its legitimate activities.
Resolve to acquire that permanent mood of mind, which views yourself at your best.
Constantly flood your arena of action with new interests and freshness of spirit which
enables you to "live life to the limit."
Moods of WILL
The Moods of Will may now be enumerated as follows:
1. The Mood of Feeling, or Interest.
Feeling may be defined as any pleasurable or painful condition of the person in
mind or body. The steps from such condition to Volition are four: a mental
impression or object of attention brought to mind; a feeling with regard to the
same; a mode of mental action, or attention; and the Volition.
The degree of attention sometimes depends upon the Will, but more frequently
upon interest in the object or impression. Interest is of two sorts, spontaneous and
willed. Spontaneous interest is indifferent to the quality of the feeling involved,
whether pleasurable or painful; a toothache receives spontaneous interest as truly
as a good dinner. But willed interest, or acquired attention, always involves the
idea of personal pleasure, at least the gratification of some desire.
The Mood of Feeling or Interest may be cultivated. One ultimate purpose for
doing so, providing constant gratification, will be the intelligent increase of the
Mood itself, and through that increase, of the mind's steadfast power of Will.
In all large living this Mood of Interest is ever present and powerful. If it is
suffered to collapse here and there, a loss of Will is sure to follow. The sum total
of the Will's activities depends upon the sum total of its acquired interests. Hence

spontaneous interest should be utilized for the maintenance of acquired, and

above all should be made over into good habits of living.
As a guiding rule for the acquirement of such artificial interest and the keeping
alive of feeling with "go" in it, a principle of Prof. William James may be
followed:
"Any object not interesting in itself may become interesting through becoming
associated with an object in which interest already exists. The two associated
objects grow, as it were, together; the interesting portion sheds its quality over the
whole; and thus things not interesting in their own right borrow an interest which
becomes as real and as strong as that of any natively interesting thing."
If such a principle is practically and persistently carried out, the effort will
invariably cultivate great volitional power.
A Study of Moods
2. The Mood of Energy
This is a general forceful and determined state of mind. It is the Mood which
carries things on. It may act swiftly or slowly, depending upon other
characteristics. The energetic man may be swift in action as compared to the bulk
of his mind, while slow as compared to men of lighter caliber. Energy may exhibit
on the surface of action, or it may hide behind an unmoved exterior; it may be
violent in its manifestations, or as calm as a resistless iceberg. Whatever its
characteristics, it is of vastest importance.
To maintain it may draw heavily on the Will, but its continued possession and
control furnish among the surest means of cultivating and training the Will's
power and stability. For further study of this subject reference may be had to the
author's work, Power for Success. Learn to summons, on occasion, the feeling of
being alive, alert, energy charged.
3. The Mood of Permission.
The Will, in this Mood, having originated certain actions of the body or in the
mind, simply permits the movements involved to "go on of themselves," as it
were, without interference, except to modify or prohibit, at intervals, and as
occasion may require.
Examples of such permissive action of the Will may be seen in walking, carried
on automatically so far as conscious effort is concerned, while the mind is
engaged in thought; in reading while conversation is in progress in the vicinity; in
musical performance while the player converses with others. In all such cases it is
probable that the "underground mind" involves consciousness of the various

activities, but that the objective mind remains a sort of passive spectator or ruler
who does not interpose his power.
The Mood of Permission is also seen when the conscious Will refrains from
interfering with a state, an action, or a line of conduct. Thus the Will permits
various mental or bodily conditions, as reverie or rest, or an act or series of acts to
continue, or a habit to remain undisturbed, or a course in life to proceed, the mind
in all cases being conscious of its own or bodily activities, and that it may, at any
moment exert the Will in a contrary direction.
This mood should be cultivated, yet always with reference to the formation of
good habits and the growth of Will. It is especially valuable in permitting rest
both of body and of mind for the sake of psychic tone. But it must be wisely
exercised, for otherwise it will drop to the line of indolence, and thus destroy
rather than build up power of Will.
Know Thyself
4. The Mood of Decision.
This Mood involves the Mood of Energy. It signifies promptness with more or
less of force. It is instant in its action, having thus fulfilled its function.
Nevertheless, it is a Mood to be cultivated and continually possessed, as the
emergencies of life make incessant demands upon its exercise in the Will.
"The irresolute man is lifted from one place to another; so hatcheth nothing, but
addles all his actions."
"For indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting o'er lost days.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute.
What you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated
Begin, and then the work will be completed."
Every effort to maintain the decisive state of mind acts directly on the Will. A
determined resolution to decide intelligently and forcefully all questions of life as
they may present themselves, rather than suffer them to hang for something "to
turn up" will be found to be a perfect Will tonic.

5. The Mood of Continuity.

This Mood involves energy and decision. It is, as it were, a chain of decisions, the
Mood of Decision perpetuated. In evil, it is a man's ruin; in right conduct, one of
the methods of success. It is a creator of interest, and a prime source of voluntary
habits.
"Habit is a second nature as regards its importance in adult life; for the acquired
habits of our training have by that time inhibited or strangled most of the natural
impulsive tendencies which were originally there. Ninety-nine hundredths or,
possibly, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousandths, of our activity is purely
automatic and habitual, from our rising in the morning to our lying down each
night." Hence the supreme importance of forming habits of action which are
rational and make for the mind's education.
"A capricious man is not one man merely; he is several at once; he multiplies
himself as often as he has new tastes and different behavior."
"Success prompts to exertion, and habit facilitates success."
"Habit also gives promptness; and the soul of dispatch is decision."
6. The Mood of Understanding.
In this Mood the person wills to attend intelligently to the thing in hand. He
concentrates in order to know. He insists upon knowing that to which he attends.
This Mood usually results in decision and continuity, but not always, for Reason
may dictate inactivity, and the man may refuse to follow his moral convictions.
But the Mood of Understanding is imperative in an intelligent exercise of power
of Will. It often prohibits action.
It provides the ground for rational endeavors. It is the check of rashness. It is the
inspiration of some of the most resistless exhibitions of Will energy known. When
Grant was ready, he swept on to victory. Great commercial enterprises are all
born of this Mood. It is the very genius of Science. Faraday, about to witness an
experiment, said, "Wait; what am I to expect?" That was the mood of
understanding. A determination to cultivate this mood, and to have it present in all
deliberations, will obviate innumerable mistakes in life, and infallibly develop
great power and wisdom in the exercise of the Will.
"Nine men out of every ten," says Professor William Matthews, "lay out their
plans on too vast a scale; and they who are competent to do almost anything, do
nothing, because they never make up their minds distinctly as to what they want,
or what they intend to be."
7. The Mood of Reason.

In this mood the person employs the preceding, but goes on to ascertain definite
reasons for one action in preference to another. One may understand a subject, a
motive, or the alternatives of conduct, yet be at a loss for the right decision. The
Mood of Reason asks, Why this action or that? It holds the Will back until
satisfactory answers are given.
Undoubtedly it is a Mood which may be over cultivated, and there are occasions
when the inability to discover determining reasons for action or cessation of
action must furnish the sole reason for decision, as wrong action may be better
than a perpetual deadlock of the Will. Nevertheless, the Mood of Reason stands
with that of Righteousness in its importance to the conduct of life. Its
development and perennial judgment in the court of mind are scientific guaranties
of a strong and intelligent Will.
"Count Von Moltke," writes Orison Swett Marden, "the great German strategist
and general, chose for his motto, Erst wagen, dann wager, "First weigh, then
venture," and it is to this he owed his great victories. He was slow, cautious,
careful in planning, but bold, daring, even seemingly reckless in execution the
moment his resolve was made."
8. The Mood of Righteousness.
In this mood a person is bent on ascertaining the moral quality of actions. It is the
loftiest of Moods having reference to Will. It has developed some of the greatest
Wills of the ages. It clears the mind, uncovers all motives, illumines the judgment,
inspires resolution, induces perseverance, arouses the understanding and guides
the reason. By nothing is the Will so easily disorganized as by the opposite Mood,
that of Evil.
The Mood of Righteousness governs the universe, that is its superiority, and
exhibits the strength of an Almighty Will. He who nourishes and holds to the fore
this Mood is infallibly sure of a good Will; which may err in directions really
unimportant, but cannot err in the direction of an ultimate power of Will that
guarantees success against all the assaults of evil forever.
Let us now observe:
Many people exhibit the Moods of Feeling, Energy, and Decision.
A less number possess adequately the Moods of Understanding and Reason.
Few there are, seemingly, who show the Mood of intelligent Continuity in life.
Fewer still manifest the Mood of Righteousness as a permanent factor of conduct.

The Will, then, may be graded according as it discloses these Moods. The perfect Will
exhibits them in symmetrical combination: the Mood of Right Feeling merging into the
Mood of Energy prompt to act, but pausing for Understanding, guided by Reason and
controlled by Righteousness. When all these Moods obtain, there is the perfect static Will
capable of enormous dynamic energy for any length of time and working towards the
noblest ends in life.
At this point appears:
Basic Principle in Will Culture
Intelligent cultivation of the Will involves exercises dealing with every department of
human nature:
1. Will bent practice of the perceptive powers, exercise of feeling and knowing for
growth of Will.
2. Exercise calling the imagination into play with the idea of strengthening and
training the Will by deliberate activity and by clean consideration of motives and
consequences.
3. Practice in memory, as a mind improver and as a Will grower; and also for the
purpose of rendering experience more vivid, and, hence, a more forceful teacher.
4. Practice in reasoning, for the cultivation of the whole mind, and in order to
develop the habit of acting according to definite reasons, together with the
elimination of impulse and thoughtless decisions.
5. Exercise in self perception and self control, in the eradication of injurious
tendencies and habits and immoral acts and conduct, in order that all Moods of
the Will may be brought to the fore in a life mastered by righteousness. For here
only is the perfect Will.
6. The persistent state of resolution for Will. This means the preservation always,
and under all circumstances of the attitude - I WILL TO WILL.
He who would acquire the perfect Will must carry into all his thoughts and actions the
resolute assertion I RESOLVE TO WILL! This resolution, borne out in persistent
practice, has never been known to fail.

Some General Rules

The exercise of the Will, or the lesson of power, is taught in every event. From 'the
child's possession of his several senses', up to the hour when he saith, 'Thy will be done!',
he is learning the secret, that he can reduce under his Will, not only particular events, but
great classes, nay the whole series of events, and so conform all facts to his character."Emerson.
Part 1 may be closed with some general rules.
The purpose in suggesting a number of practical rules at this point is twofold: in the first
place, the rules furnish examples of what is conceived to be the right use of the Will; and,
in the second place, the effort to employ them and fix them in mind will bring into play
that fundamentally important factor of our nature, the subconscious self. A sea captain
wrote the author in regard to these rules: "I found myself during a stormy passage without
effort calling the rules to mind and bringing them into action, and I never got through bad
weather so easily."
"There exists in all intellectual endeavor," says Jastrow in "The Subconscious," "a period
of incubation, a process in great part subconscious, a slow, concealed maturing through
absorption of suitable pabulum. Schopenhauer calls it "unconscious rumination," a
chewing over and over again of the cud of thought preparatory to its assimilation with our
mental tissue; another speaks of it as the red glow that precedes the white heat. We
develop by living in an atmosphere congenial to the occupation that we seek to make our
own; by steeping ourselves in the details of the business that is to be our specialty, until
the judgment is trained, the assimilation sensitized, the perspective of importance for the
special purpose well established, the keenness for useful improvisation brought to an
edge. When asked how he came to discover the law of gravitation, Newton is reported to
have answered, 'By always thinking about it."'
Some General Rules
FIRST SET
Rules pertinent to the exercise of Will in the conduct of life. These paragraphs should be
studied and thoroughly fixed in mind, They are born of experience, and should be
practiced daily until they become automatic in the working outfit of character.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Be master of your own Will.

When in doubt, do nothing; wait for light.
Cultivate perfect calmness.
Never become confusingly excited.
Never yield to temper, nor entertain irritation.
Make no decision when out of temper.

7. If inclined to rashness, cultivate conservatism.

8. If inclined to excessive, injurious conservatism (experience must decide this),
cultivate the prompt and progressive spirit.
9. Decide nothing without deliberation where deliberation is possible.
10. When deliberation is not possible, keep cool. Confusion is mental anarchy; it
dethrones the " King."
11. After a decision under such circumstances, entertain no regrets, The regretful
mind is an enemy to a good Will, If the mind has held itself with an iron grip and
decided on the spur of dire necessity, the gods could do no more.
12. Make no decision without an adequate purpose. Rely upon your own intelligent
idea of adequacy.
13. Permit no difficulties to turn you aside from an adequate purpose. Mirabeau
called the word " impossible " " that blockhead word."
14. Never try to make a decision the carrying out of which involves a real
impossibility.
15. In the pursuit of an adequate purpose, sift means according to ends, then shift
them intelligently. It is folly to tunnel a mountain if you can get a better and
cheaper road by going around it. A man in Ohio spent thousands of dollars in
laying a roadbed, and abandoned it to purchase another railroad. He should have
made sure about the operating road first. But if it is necessary to sink money in a
new road in order to compel sale of an old one, that is the thing to do.
16. The best Will is not that which pounds through all circumstances, whether or no,
merely for the sake of persistence, but that which "gets there" by taking advantage
of shifting conditions. Ends, not means, are the goal of a wise Will.
17. Never lose sight of the main thing in hand.
18. Admit no motive into court which you do not clearly see. A motive is like a
would be soldier; it should undergo medical examination in the nude.
19. Never permit a motive for a decision to tangle up with a motive against. Example:
This city is good business center; but then, you have to earn your money a second
time in collecting it. Such a marriage of motives breeds confusion. Compel every
motive to stand alone.
20. Remember, that a decision of Will involves judge and lawyer. You are merely and
always the judge. When desire takes the bench and the judge pleads, it is time to
adjourn court. You can get a correct "judgment" only by sticking to the bench. In
other words, never permit yourself to plead, either with, for or against a motive.
21. In making an important decision, summons the whole mind to this one act. I
RESOLVE TO WILL! ATTENTION!!
22. Make no decision while the mind is partly occupied with other matters. It is
impossible to angle for fish and shoot buffaloes at the same time.
23. Never work at cross-purposes. Set the Will either for one thing or for the other.
The man who tries to kill two birds with one stone usually misses both. Where the
two birds are taken a second stone has stolen into the case.
24. Take all the advice that is offered; then act upon your own judgment.
25. Never discount your own experience. This is "dollars", except to the fool. The
chief value of the fool's experience is its worth to others.

26. Never act upon merely passive resolution. This is weakness. It may be phrased in
these words: "I guess I will do so and so." One may say thereto, with
Shakespeare, " What a lack-brain is this!" Nothing comes of the lackadaisical
Will.
27. If this is the general tone of your Will, stimulate it by imitation of fierce
resolution.
28. The first secret of persistence is a good start; the second is a constant review of
motives.
29. When tempted to discouragement, defer action to a time of sounder mood,
30. Never embark in an enterprise in which you do not thoroughly believe. To do
otherwise is to introduce confusion among the judicial powers. If it turns out that
your want of faith has been wrong, you have nevertheless kept those judicial
powers on the bench. That is worth more than the success which you have missed.
31. If you have any settled fears in life, consort with them, resolutely and persistently,
until you know them for liars.
32. Don't worry! To worry about the past is to dig up a grave; let the corpse lie. To
worry about the future is to dig your own grave; let the undertaker attend to that.
The present is the servant of your Will.
33. Never decide an important matter when the mind is confused by sickness. Store
this rule in your soul during health; it will stand by you in disease.
34. Never yield a resolution after three o'clock in the afternoon, The morning may
bring a better thought.
35. Never make an important decision after three o'clock in the afternoon, nor before
ten o'clock in the forenoon. Before ten you have not "limbered up." After three
you are " unlimbered."
The two preceding rules are merely for suggestion.
36. Never ignore in deliberation a possible consequence.
37. Insist upon seeing clearly all possible consequences.
38. In deliberation, consequences should always be separated from motives; in
judgment, motives should always he considered with reference to consequences.
39. Before making a decision, magnify all possible difficulties.
40. After decision, minify every actual difficulty, and throw out of mind every
difficulty which seems to be imaginary. Here are some things that are hard to
decide; but then, all life is a taking of chances.
41. If you must take chances, take those that lean your way.
42. Learn to emphasize in thought, and to see clearly, remote motives, contingencies
and consequences. Be sure that they are not overshadowed by those which are
near. Example: I wish to economize in order to secure a home; but at present, I
desire a vacation. The home is very remote, while the period of rest is very near
and clamorous.
43. In weighing motives, have a care that desire does not tip the scale. "In making an
effort to fix our mind on a distant good or a remote evil we know that we are
acting in the direction of our true happiness. Even when the representation of the
immediate result is exerting all its force, and the representation of the distant one

is faint and indistinct, we are vaguely aware that the strongest desire lies in this
direction. And the resolute direction of attention in this quarter has for its object
to secure the greatest good by an adequate process of representation."
44. Never lie to yourself in the consideration of motives and consequences. If you
must lie, practice on other people; they will find you out; but if you continue to lie
to yourself, you are a lost fool.
45. Remember always that the lie is the dry rot of Will.
46. Be absolutely genuine and sincere. Yet, withal, this gives you no right to ride,
roughshod over neighboring humanity.
47. Never perform an act, nor make a decision, in opposition to what Socrates called
his " Daimonion,", the inner voice that whispers, "Better not! "
48. When you write to an enemy a letter in which you scorch his soul, be happy, but
do not mail it until tomorrow. You will then see that you have written too much.
Condense it by half, but do not mail it until tomorrow. It will keep. Do not destroy
it. It is a good letter. Tomorrow you will again condense it. When you can write a
brief, plain, but courteous letter, in which you reveal good breeding and disclose
reticence, do so, and instantly mail it, grateful for common sense.
49. Never resolve upon an act which will, or may injure other people, or injure
yourself.
50. Measure motives by your noblest selfhood.
51. Dismiss without consideration motives or actions which you clearly recognize to
be contrary to your best instincts.
52. In all conflicts between duty and pleasure, give duty the benefit of the doubt.
53. Never act contrary to your clearest judgment. Others may be right; but, in the long
run, better is mistake in your own judgment than right on the judgment of others.
Do not abdicate the throne.
54. Cultivate as a permanent habit of mind the positive Mood of willing.
55. Never will to be an imitator or a follower.
You can so will unconsciously; therefore resolve to lead and to invent and move out on
new lines.
It is impossible to deliberate over every detail of conduct. Hence life must become
habituated to right general principles. "A force endowed with intelligence, capable of
forming purposes and pursuing self chosen ends, may neglect those rules of action which
alone can guide it safely, and thus at last wholly miss the natural ends of its being. To
such a being, eternal vigilance would be the price of liberty."
SECOND SET
Rules having reference to the Moods of mind.
The Mood of Feeling:
1. Never yield to the Mood of Feeling without scrutinizing it closely.

2. In cultivating this Mood, be sure that it is wholly free from wrong desire, fear,
hate, prejudice, jealousy, anger, revenge, nervous disorders, mental depression,
misconceptions and partial views.
3. At no time permit this mood to explode in impulse.
4. Keep the Mood constantly at a high, but rational and controlled, pitch or tone.
All Problems Close in Adjustment
The Mood of Energy:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Seek every opportunity to intensify consciousness of the determined Will.

Maintain the resolute sense of the emphatic personality.
Keep the Mood under firm control.
Permit no explosion without deliberate decision and adequate cause.
Bring this Mood to all activities.
Hold the eye of energy upon life's ultimate goal.

The Mood of Decision:

1. Precede all decision by deliberation.
2. Cultivate decision in so called unimportants.
3. Endeavor constantly to reduce the time expended in arriving at decision. Do
everything as swiftly as possible.
4. Never defer decided action. Go immediately into the business determined upon.
5. Always conjoin with this Mood that of energy.
The Mood of Continuity:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Count the cost.

Repeat constantly the resolution involved.
Do not brood over difficulties.
Keep the goal in sight.
In all continuous effort hold to the fore the Mood of utmost. energy, and cause
decision to act like a triphammer incessantly on the purposed business.
6. Regard each step or stage as a goal in itself. Act by act, the thing is done!
The Moods of Understanding and Reason:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Know, first, what the matter proposed involves.

Know, secondly, what defeat means.
Know, thirdly, what success signifies.
Understand your own weakness.
Understand your own powers.
Thoroughly understand how to proceed.
Become acquainted with all details connected with an undertaking, and with the
reasons for one method of procedure or another.

The Mood of Righteousness:

1. Have perfect faith in yourself.
2. Have faith in men.
3. Be honest, absolutely honest, with yourself.
4. Permit nothing in self to hoodwink judgment.
5. Put yourself always in the other man's shoes.
6. Examine all moral traditions.
7. Reject nothing because it is old.
8. Approve nothing because it is new.
9. Settle no question by expediency.
10. Seek all possible light.
11. Live up to all light possessed.
12. Follow your best instincts.
13. Try your ideas by the opinions of others.
14. Surrender to all good and wise impulses.
15. Love truth supremely.
16. Be as anxious to discover duty, as you ought to be to perform it when discovered.
The following remarkable paragraph, by John Stuart Mill, almost epitomizes the right use
of Will power: "He who chooses his plan for himself, employs all his faculties. He must
use observation to see, reasoning and judgment to foresee, activity to gather materials for
decision, discrimination to decide, and when he has decided, firmness and self control to
hold to his deliberate decision. And these qualities he requires and exercises exactly in
proportion as the part of his conduct which he determines according to his own judgment
and feeling is a large one. It is possible that he might be guided in some good path, and
kept out of harm's way, without any of these things. But what will be his comparative
worth as a human being? It really is of importance not only what men do, but also what
manner of men they are that do it. Among the works of man, which human life is rightly
employed in perfecting and beautifying, the first in importance surely is man himself."
But the work of this chapter will not be finished so long as dependence is placed on the
objective self alone. There is a deeper self which must be trained to accept and act on the
rules above suggested. It is a mistake to expect self development from external activities
exclusively. If you go over the rules until they are thoroughly imbedded in the
subconscious phases of your mind, they will then "germinate," so to speak, and in time
become "second nature," In the meantime, it will be advisable to affirm mentally
somewhat as follows: "I am absorbing these principles of conduct, and in so doing am
affirming that the moods indicated are surely becoming mine, actual factors in my
everyday life."
All Problems Close in Adjustment
For remember, you cannot find reality, truth, life, a universe, by going forever outside of
self nor by gazing into some imaginary sky. So far as you are concerned, none of these
things exist save as each is given existence within your selfhood. The universe passes

solemnly through every growing soul from the region of the ungrasped and below the
ordinary consciousness. No knowledge comes from upper airs, though half the reality of
any knowledge lies there because every individual centers Infinite Existence, but all
emerges from the under realm of the unknown in consciousness. No possession is yours
until it has swept up from the lower inner fields of life.
Stand, therefore, for the objective life, of course, but always as well for the inner
existence which allies you with all worlds. If, taking the outer life as it comes, you will
for long affirm that your deeper self is also in relation with all right things and growing
because of that relation, you will in this way realize the remarkable quotation from Mill.
Otherwise, it is nothing better than commonplace school instruction.
Now the object of these many rules is to bring out the greatness within you. Pertinent
thoughts on the subject can be given from Sigurd Ibsen (son of the great dramatist): "
People can be more or less great; some oftener than others. In certain people the genius
appears only as an isolated flash. Most well-equipped creatures probably have a great
idea, at some moment or other of their lives, but such an inspiration appearing by fits and
starts, is not genius. The great tragedy of the incomplete man is that his vision is sublime,
while the means of expressing it escapes him (power of will).
"All greatness, that of the intellect, the feeling or of the will, can finally be comprehended
in the concept "personality". Great is the man who is equipped with a personality of
unusual intensity. And so, what is personality? It is potentiated humanity, humanity in
quintessence. The patternable great man would be he who united all purely human
qualities in perfect harmony and in the mightiest phase of development.
"Consciousness of any kind whatever is the aim and content of all life. The highest form
of life consists in the most intense consciousness, connected with the freest expansion of
feeling, thought, and action, and the most supreme beings are those who are capable of
securing for themselves such an invigorated existence."
Some General Rules
So, practice the foregoing exercises; use the different sets of rules, They will gradually
establish in your conscious mind the feeling that you are living and acting according to
infallible law. You will soon realize that you are directing your own course, that you can
deliberately proceed this way or that, as you choose. And with the unfolding of this
higher consciousness there will come forward the deep inner confidence that you are your
own master, that you are unswayed by external forces of men and nature which drive
most people with ruthless jocularity.
It is this supreme consciousness, this expanding arena of expression, which Ibsen refers
to as the measure of great men, the gauge of a man's independence, his qualifications to
come and go upon the earth, a superman. And always does such a career demonstrate the
outworking of the power we are all along seeking to develop, the Will.

The Will and Sense Culture

Suggestions for Practice

Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished. He that seeketh

victory over his nature, let him not set himself too great nor too small tasks; for the first
will make him dejected by often failings, and the second will make him a small
proceeder, though by often prevailings. Let not a man force a habit upon himself with a
perpetual continuance, but with some intermission. For both the pause reinforceth the
new onset; and if a man that is not perfect be ever in practice, he shall as well practice his
errors as his abilities, and induce one habit of both. And there is no means to help this but
by seasonable intermissions." - Lord Bacon.
Should the exercises given in this division of our work, Part II, seem unessential or
tedious, you are invited to remember that, as Royce has said (" Outlines of Psychology ")
: "The development and support of mental activities of every grade is dependent upon the
constant and proper use of the sense organs. Every cultivation of even the highest inner
life involves a cultivation of the sense organs."
But observe: "The life of the senses does not constitute a sort of lower life, over against
which the higher, intellectual, emotional and voluntary life stands, as a markedly
contrasted region relatively independent of the other, and ideally capable of a certain
divorce from it. On the contrary, sensory experience plays its part, and its essential part,
in the very highest of our spiritual existence. When we wish to cultivate processes of
abstract thinking, our devices must therefore include a fitting plan for the cultivation of
the senses, and must not plan to exclude sense experience as such, but only to select
among sensory experiences those that will prove useful for a purpose.
We are now prepared for the actual work of Will culture in Physical Regime. The present
chapter is preliminary yet eminently practical, and it should not only be carefully read but
thoroughly studied until its suggestions are deeply grounded. in daily life.
At this point certain principles appear which form the basis of all Physical Regime.
FIRST PRINCIPLE
Continuous and intelligent thought on the growth of any mental power, with exercises
carried on to that end, exerts a developing influence upon the function itself. In the case
of the Will this would follow without systematic practice, but regulated exercise tends to
hold attention to the desired goal and to increase the power of the idea of Will culture.
The value of the abiding thought, " I resolve to acquire a strong and well-trained Will!
" can scarcely be overstated.
Suggestions for Practice

SECOND PRINCIPLE

Exercises involving one department of body or mind will exert various beneficial
influences:
Of the body, on other parts of body;
Of the body, on various powers of mind;
Of the mind, on other powers of mind;
Of the mind, on various functions and organs of the body.
An illustration of the general law may be seen in the increased grip power of one
hand caused by daily practice with the other. Thus, Professor E. W. Scripture, in "
Thinking, Willing, Doing," remarks
"It is incredible to me how in the face of our general experience of gymnasium
work some writers can assert that practice makes no change in the greatest
possible effort. At any rate, in experiments made under my direction the change
could be traced day by day.
"Curiously enough, this increase of force is not confined to the particular act. In
the experiments referred to, the greatest possible effort in gripping was made on
the first day with the left hand singly and then with the right hand, ten times each.
The records were: for the left, fifteen pounds, for the right, fifteen pounds.
Thereafter, the right hand alone was practiced nearly every day for eleven days,
while the left hand was not used, The right hand gained steadily day by day; on
the twelfth day it recorded a grip of twenty-five pounds. The left hand recorded
on the same day a grip of twenty-one pounds. Thus the left hand had gained six
pounds, or more than one-third, by practice of the other hand."
In practice seeking development of Will, what is true of hands will be true of
mental powers, Indeed, steadfast, purposeful exercise of physical powers in
general will develop power of Will. The same writer goes on to say on this point
"A great deal has been said of the relation of physical exercise to Will power. I
think that what I have said sufficiently explains how we can use the force of an
act as an index of Will power. It is unquestionable that gymnastic exercises
increase the force of act. The conclusion seems clear; the force of Will for those
particular acts must be increased. It has often been noticed that an act will grow
steadily stronger although not the slightest change can be seen in the muscle.

Great Is Drill
"Of course I do not say that the developed muscle does not give a greater result for the
same impulse than the undeveloped one; but I do claim that much of the increase or
decrease of strength is due to a change in Will power. For example, no one would say
that Sandow, the strong man, has a more powerful Will than anybody else. But Sandow's
strength varies continually, and, although part of this variation may be due to changes in
the muscles, a large portion is due to a change in force of Will. When Sandow is weak,
make him angry, and note the result."

THIRD PRINCIPLE
Lower forms of exercise in bodily movement prepare the way for higher exercises. "All
the higher actions of life depend on the attainment of a general control of the bodily
organs." This is true even when such control is left to haphazard methods. It is
immeasurably truer when control is intelligently sought. "Consequently," in the highest
sense, "the exercising of these capabilities involves a rudimentary," and a very complete
"training of the Will, for a definite reaction on the Will itself is absolutely certain."

FOURTH PRINCIPLE

Intelligent work in Will culture must begin with perception. Perception precedes
mental growth. The senses are our common miners for raw material of mental
life. Yet how few people adequately attend to sensation or intelligently employ
their own senses! Strange as it may seem, here is a large terra incognita. One of
the chief differences among men is the matter of vision. By vision is meant the
ability to see, hear and feel reality. Some people perceive a great deal on the
surface of things; others catch but little even here. Some perceive not only the
superficial aspects of reality, but also its inner contents; others, again, discover
neither the surface of things nor their hidden meaning. Eyes, ears, nerves they
have; but they see not, hear not, feel not. To such people a strong Will power is a
stranger. They are governed largely by caprice.
The first requisite, then, of Will growth, is observation. The mind must learn to
see things as they are, to hear things as they are, to feel things as they are.
"Eyes and No-eyes journeyed together," says the author just quoted. "No-eyes
saw only what thrust itself upon him; Eyes was on the watch for everything. Eyes
used the fundamental method of all knowledge. observation, or watching.

Great Is Drill

"This is the first lesson to be learned, the art of watching. Most of us went to
school before this art was cultivated, and, alas! most of the children still go to
schools of the same kind, There are proper ways of learning to watch, but the
usual object lessons in school result in just the opposite. We, however, cannot go
a step further till we have learned how to watch."
Hence, the watchword all along must be ATTENTION! The Will must begin its
work by resolving upon persistent ATTENTION. To the various operations of the
senses Will must mightily attend! In all exercises the watchword must never be
forgotten: ATTENTION! But attention for what purpose? For one sole purpose,
Will power!
The commanding formula then, is: "I RESOLVE TO WILL! ATTENTION!!

FIFTH PRINCIPLE

Systematic exercise, with power of Will constantly kept in mind as a goal never to
be yielded, develops the Will habit. Hence the value of persistence. Practice
develops persistence; persistence perfects practice. Emerson said truly:
''The second substitute for temperament is drill, the power of use and routine. The
hack is a better roadster than the Arab barb. At West Point, Colonel Buford, the
Chief Engineer, pounding with a hammer on the trunnions of a cannon, until he
broke them off. He fired a piece of ordinance some hundred times in swift
succession, until it burst. Now, which stroke broke the trunnion? Every stroke.
Which blast burst the piece? Every blast. 'Diligence passe sens,' Henry VIII. was
wont to say, or, 'Great is drill.' Practice is nine-tenths. Six hours every day at the
piano, only to give facility of touch; six hours a day at painting, only to give
command of the odious materials, oil, ochres, and brushes. The masters say that
they know a master in music, only by seeing the pose of the hands on the keys; so
difficult and vital an act is the command of the instrument. To have learned the
use of the tools, by thousands of manipulations; to have learned the arts of
reckoning, by endless adding and dividing, is the power of the mechanic and the
clerk."

Suggestions for Practice

"Not only men," says Thomas Reid, the English Philosopher, "but children, idiots,
and brutes, acquire by habit many perceptions which they had not originally.
Almost every employment in life hath perceptions of this kind that are peculiar to
it. The shepherd knows every sheep of his flock, as we do our acquaintance, and
can pick them out of another flock one by one. The butcher knows by sight the
weight and quality of his beeves and sheep before they are killed. The farmer
perceives by his eye very nearly the quantity of hay in a rick or corn in a heap.
The sailor sees the burden, the build, and the distance of a ship at sea, while she is
a great way off. Every man accustomed to writing, distinguishes acquaintances by
their handwriting, as he does by their faces. In a word, acquired perception is very
different in different persons, according to the diversity of objects about which
they are employed, and the application they bestow in observing them."
All such acquired powers are the results of long continued practice. And back of
them lies the persistent Will. In the most of such and similar instances no great
amount of Will is required at any one time; they are rather outcomes of steady
application to the thing in hand.
Thus, unfailing attention to the exercises here to follow, with the idea of power of
Will constantly in mind, will impart facility as regards the directions given, and in
turn will develop the controlling faculty of mind to an astonishing degree.
But this work, to be successful, must be conducted with labor and patience. Think
not to acquire a great Will without toil. Nor imagine that such a boon can come of
a month's training or of spasmodic effort. There is but one way to get a good Will;
to will to will, and to carry out that will with unflinching perseverance.

The insane are sometimes able, for a purpose, to "wind themselves up," and act
like the sanest, by a supreme effort of Will. If the present book costs you many
months of endeavor, it will "wind up" the Will to great power and persistence, and
will justify all time and toil.

SIXTH PRINCIPLE

The value of drill depends largely upon system, This requires not only regular
labor, but regular rest periods as well.
In the ten day exercises continue five days, then rest, preferably Saturday and
Sunday.
From first to last, cultivate and sustain the Mood of Will. Put the Will at the fore.
Here alone is our tic plus ultra!
Great Is Drill

Finally, in order that the principles involved may become an intelligent part of the
system carried out, the following suggestions applicable to the Physical and
Mental Regimes should be thoroughly worked into the student's mind as to

First: In Regard to Perception.

1. Keep the perceptive powers always at their best: eyes, ears, smell, taste, touch,
nerves.
2. Attend to the consciousness of each sense.
3. Observe frequent and regular periods of rest, The law that "voluntary attention
comes only in beats," requires this rule.
4. With attainment of facility, invent new methods of practice.
5. Carry the idea involved in practice into all your life.
6. "While habituated actions that are not naturally automatic are certainly voluntary,
the presence of conscious Will should be maintained as much as possible in all
such activities. Example: piano playing; hold the mind consciously to every
movement.
7. Continue the practice of the perceptive powers until the greatest willing power has
been acquired.
Secondly: In Regard to Memory.
1. If the memory is weak all round, resolve to strengthen it.
2. Seek to discover the peculiarities of your own memory. Then make the most of it.
3. If the memory is weak in some particulars, but strong in others, cultivate it
especially where weak, and compel it where strong to assist in this effort.
4. Subordinate the verbal memory to that of principles.
5. Give memory for principles a good foundation in memorized facts, dates, etc.
6. Rely resolutely upon the ability of your memory to do your bidding,
7. Frequently review all work of the memory with great Will power.

8. Make use, as often as possible, in conversation and writing, and in public

speaking, of all the acquirements of memory.
9. Always put the Will into the effort to remember.
10. Arrange materials by association. Then systematize and associate memory's
possessions.
11. Resolve to acquire a perfect memory.
12. Abstain from all use of tobacco and alcohol.
13. Put no reliance in mnemonics, or any arbitrary "helps," but employ natural laws
of association, such as:
Suggestions for Practice
Contiguity Horse and rider.
Contrast Light and dark.
Resemblance Grant and Sherman.
Cause and effect Vice and misery.
Whole and parts United States and New York.
Genus and species Dog and greyhound.
Sign and thing signified Cross and Catholic faith.

Thirdly: In Regard to Imagination.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Do not indulge in revelry.

Abstain from all evil imaginations.
Deal, in the imagination, with facts and essential reality alone.
Fill mind with wholly admirable material.
Put the Will sense into the imagination.
Make the imagination a conscious and intelligent instrument. Use it for practical
purposes.
7. Beware of the "squint" brain. Look at things squarely and without prejudice.
8. Do not fall in love with the wonderful for its own sake,
9. Do not permit the imagination to dwell upon any one thing, nor upon any one
quarter of thought or life, for long at one time.
10. Provide for the imagination the greatest variety of material.
11. Rigidly exclude from the realm of fancy all imaginary ills, and especially
misconceptions about men or reality. Guard against deception here.

Fourthly: In Regard to Self -perception.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Do not suffer mind to become morbid.

Subject the testimony of the senses and of mind to the closest scrutiny of reason.
Maintain in all seasons the healthy mood. Keep up your supply of ozone.
Live among wholesome people.
Companion only with large and vigorous truths.
Thrust the Will into all perception of self. Banish the dream mood. Turn a
hurricane in on hallucinations.
7. Become familiar with self perception in every phase: seeing, hearing, smelling,
tasting, touch, muscular consciousness, nerve testimony; feeling, memory,
imagination, reason. Will moral states. Be absolute master here.
Fifthly: In Regard to Self-control.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Habituate normal and right actions.

Eliminate eccentricities.
Study and overcome your personal faults.
Destroy immoral, injurious and obnoxious habits.
Expend no unnecessary amount of force in legitimate effort, and none at all in
illegitimate.
6. Welcome criticism; but sift it thoroughly, and then act upon results.
7. Never gratify impulse or desire if either offers a single chance of permanent
injury to the highest tone of mind.
8. When about to lose self control, anticipate consequences, and foresee especially
what you may be required to do in order to regain position.
9. Make discipline an ally, not an enemy.
10. Believe mightily in yourself.
11. Unite belief in self with faith in man.
12. Keep the loftiest ideals fresh in thought.
13. Never for an instant lose consciousness of self as a willing center of power.
SEVENTH PRINCIPLE
"There is nothing which tends so much to the success of a volitional effort as a confident
expectation of its success." Cultivate, therefore, the Mood of Expectancy. There are
underlying, scientifically demonstrated truths of tremendous import in this connection.
Space does not allow going into a lengthy explanation. But the idea is:
The positive mind that DEMANDS, mentally, the things it wants, is far more likely to get
them than the cringing, shrinking, negative state of mind. Some rules in this connection
follow:
1. Be sure the intended effort is one within the possibility of your powers to carry
through.

2. If it is possible to choose the time of applying the final effort, select a period
when you are at your best physically and mentally.
3. Impress upon your mind, over and over again, the demand that you simply MUST
win. Scout and ridicule the little flickering thoughts that pipe up: "There's a big
possibility that you won't get it."
4. Mentally demand, over and over, and with intensest vigor of thought, that you
shall and will get what you seek. Say: "I DEMAND health. I DEMAND luxuries.
I DEMAND better things in life. I simply MUST have them. I DEMAND the
universal forces to bring into my career the values I seek, I DEMAND THEM !
If this seems far fetched, just bear in mind that you are using that positive state of
mind which is exactly the opposite of the cringing, timid condition which you
know is the sort that gets "kicked aside." If the negative phases of mind gets what
it expects (kicks, drudgery, slights, life's dregs) then beyond any question the
POSITIVE mind can get the big things it demands.

Exercises for the Eye

It is estimated that the human eye is capable of distinguishing 100,000 different colors, or
hues, and twenty shades or tints of each hue, making a total of 2,000,000 color sensations
which may be discriminated. If we considered the infinite variations in the color of earth,
of plants and their blossoms, of clouds, in fact of all natural objects, such an estimate as
this hardly seems excessive."- Dr. Harold Wilson.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER
The whole mind in the eye;
The eye an index of white honesty;
The straight line the path of power.
Epictetus said: "Did God give the eyes for nothing? And was it for nothing that He
mingled in them a spirit of such might and cunning as to reach a long way off and receive
the impression of visible forms, a messenger so swift and faithful? Was it for nothing that
He gave the intervening air such efficacy, and made it elastic, so that being, in a manner
strained, our vision should traverse it? Was it for nothing that He made Light, without
which there were no benefit of any other thing?"
PRELIMINARY
The eye exists for the supreme power of Will. Eye, ether, light, are ministers to the soul.
The eye may be brightened in its gaze by energetic summonsing of consciousness.
Emotions of joy, fear, hate, love, desire, aversion, illustrate this deepening influence of
energy within. These emotions may be simulated, as on the stage, at the imperious call of
Will. If so, one may acquire a keen eye, without the assistance of these feelings, by sheer
and persistent resolution.
The present chapter is to deal with the eye. It may, nevertheless, be here said that it
partakes of a law which obtains with all the organs of sense: "A process set up anywhere
in the centers reverberates everywhere, and in some way or other affects the organism
throughout."
Effort at Will growth by means of exercise of the senses will bring this law into action.
Each particular variety of practice will more or less affect the whole man, that is, the
central Will.

Exercises for the Eye

Vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch depend upon certain stimulations from without, as
mechanical (touch), molecular (taste and smell), physical (sight, hearing), muscular
(muscle sense), vital (sense of life).
But at times the required stimulation may arise within the nervous system. Examples: In
referring to certain hallucinations, a Boston physician said, "The cerebral processes by
which vision is produced may not only be started in the brain itself, but when so started,
they are identical with those set going by an objective stimulus in the ordinary way."
Professor Sully says: "A man who has lost his sight may be able to picture visible objects.
The brain is now able to act independently of external stimulation, having acquired a
disposition so to act through previous exercises under external stimulation. "But it could
not picture objects it had never seen.
Two remarks may now be made
The Will has power to concentrate energy upon a given point in the organism. "By fixing
the attention upon certain parts of the body the blood may be directed to these parts." A
strong attention directed to the eye enriches its various elements. "In looking attentively
at anything, the various ganglia in which the optic nerve is rooted are richly supplied with
blood, and the end organs of vision and the eye muscles are vigorously enervated."
Similarly attention increases the supply of nervous force at the point where Will is
focused. Vision is intensified by attention, which induces a degree of muscular effort:
physical energy from within directed to appropriate muscles. "In all close attention there
is a feeling of tension or strain which appears to indicate muscular effort. As Fechner
says, in looking steadfastly this feeling is referred to the eye; in listening closely, to the
ear; in trying to 'think' or recollect, to the head or brain."
"Thus it is presumable that when we attend to a visible object a stream of (nerve) energy
flows downward from the motor centers, partly in the direction of the muscles, and more
particularly the ocular muscles which move the eye, and partly in that of the sensory
center which is concerned in the reception of nervous impressions."
If a person tries to grip the hand of a paralyzed arm, he cannot, but muscular effort will
manifest in some part of his body. Energy has been expended.
The Eye and the World Are One
In other words, "the stimuli that excite the nervous force or irritability are of two kinds,
physical and mental. Physical stimuli embrace all external excitants of whatever nature;
light, heat, sound, odor, and every variety of chemical, mechanical, and galvanic irritant.
Mental stimuli result from the exercise of the Will and thought." The Will is thus the
power back of vision.

Professor James cites the case of a girl, born without arms or legs, who "came as quickly
to a right judgment of the size and distance of visible objects as her brothers and sisters,
although she had no use of hands."
Many children have the power of calling up "queer " forms in the darkness.
Cases like the following are not altogether rare: "A man in the Greek island of Hydra was
accustomed to take his post every day for thirty years on the summit of the island, and
look out for the approach of vessels; and although there were over three hundred sail
belonging to the island, he would tell the name of each one as she approached with
unerring certainty, while she was still at such a distance as to present to a common eye
only a confused white blur upon the clear horizon." The long practice which resulted in
this ability involved volitional acts.
The greater the Will (with a good eye), the greater our capacity for correct vision. As
exercise with vision improves the eye, so such exercise augments the flow of energy to
the appropriate muscles and nerve centres connected with sight.
Hence, conversely, all right exercises with the eyes tend to growth of that power which
controls the eyes -- the Will -- provided they are carried on with that end held intensely in
view.
In the following practice, therefore, the mind must take on energy, and it must
energetically, attend to the thing in hand by the whole of itself, excluding all other
elements of perception. This will at first be difficult; as in the case of any muscular or
nervous exertion. But to him who constantly declares, "I RESOLVE TO WILL!
ATTENTION!!" perfect power of continued and exclusive concentration comes at last to
be second nature.
"The culminating point in education is the power to attend to things that are in themselves
indifferent, by arousing an artificial feeling of interest. "Hence, in the exercises that
follow, the Mood or feeling of Will should be kept strongly in mind.
REGIMES
Exercise No. 1.
Select an object for attention, in the room, or out of doors, say, a chair or a tree. Gaze at
this object attentively, persistently, steadily. Do not strain the eyes; use them naturally.
Now note the object's size. Estimate this. Observe its distance from yourself, and from
other objects around it. Note its shape. Determine how it differs in shape from other
things near it. Clearly note its color. Does it in this harmonize with its surroundings? If
so, how? If not, in what respect. Make out its material. How was it made? What is its true
purpose? Is it serving that purpose? Could it in any way be improved? How might this
improvement be brought about?

In seeking the above information, hold mind rigidly to its task. It will be hard at first; but
persistence in the exercise will ultimately secure ease and swiftness. Now, without
looking further at the object, write out all results as nearly as you can remember.
Repeat this exercise for ten days, resting two days, one of which should be Sunday, with
the same object, and on the tenth day look at the object and observe improvement.
Always keep the Will idea in mind.
Exercise No. 2.
At a moderate gait pass once through or around a room, observing, quickly and
attentively, as many objects as possible. Now, closing the door so as to shut out the room,
write down the names of all articles which you remember at that time to have seen.
Depend upon your memory, not your knowledge.
Repeat this exercise for ten days with rest, as above, and on the tenth observe
improvement. Finally, go into the room and note carefully every object which you have
not discovered. Estimate the percentage of your failures.
Exercise No. 3.
Procure twenty five or thirty marbles, of medium size. Let eight or ten be red, eight or ten
yellow, eight or ten white. Place in an open box and thoroughly mingle the colors. Now,
seize one handful, with right and left hand at once, and let the marbles roll out together
onto a covered surface, of a table or the floor. When they are at rest, glance once at the
lot, and, turning away, write the number, as you recall (do not guess) for each color.
Repeat this exercise for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth day, estimate your
improvement.
Exercise No. 4.
Procure fifty pieces of cardboard, two inches square, each having one letter printed upon
it in plain, good-sized type. Place them all, scattered, letters down, upon a table. Take in
one hand ten of these squares, face down, and throw, face up, all at once, but so as to
separate them, upon the table. Now, look at them sharply one instant. Then turn away,
and write down the letters recalled. Immediately repeat this exercise with ten other cards.
Immediately repeat with ten other cards. Repeat these three exercises for ten days, with
rest, and on the tenth day note improvement for each successive corresponding throw
over first.
The above exercises should all be practiced each day, for ten days, at least. They may be
continued indefinitely with profit, both to attention and to the Will. But the rest periods
must be observed.

Exercise No. 5.
Let the eyes be wide open, but not disagreeably distended. The gaze should now be
directed straight in front, with every power of attention alert. Try to observe, without
turning the eyes a hair's breadth, all objects in the field of vision, while gazing ten
seconds, determined by slow counting. Write out the names of all objects recalled.
Depend upon memory, not knowledge.
Repeat the exercise ten days, with rest, as above, always from the same position, looking
in the same direction, to preserve the same exercise, and on the tenth day note
improvement.
Exercise No. 6.
Repeat the above exercise in all respects except that the position and field of vision of
each day is to be different from those preceding, and on the tenth day note improvement.
Observe: Counting off the seconds is a slower process than is ordinarily supposed. The
speed with which one must count in order to pronounce "sixty" at the end of a minute
may be easily noted by counting while following with the eyes the second hand of a
watch as it moves once around the minute-circle.
Exercise No. 7.
Gaze steadily, winking naturally, at some object not very far away, say, ten or sixty feet.
Keep the mind intently upon the object. Count sixty to a minute while so gazing intently
and observingly. Now, shut the eyes, and strive to call up a mental image of the object.
With some people the image may be as vividly defined as the real object. With most,
probably, it will not be so vivid. Look up that word "vivid." Write a description of the
image, whether clear or indistinct, with all parts mentally seen. Do not help the writing by
looking a second time at the object; trust the image. Repeat this exercise on ten different
objects on the same day. Repeat these exercises for ten days, with rest, as above, making
and marking records each day, and on the tenth day note improvement. Although the time
set for practice is ten days, the exercises may be profitably continued for any length of
time.
Remember: the purpose here is to learn to see things as they are, and to impress them
upon mind. Great improvement, both in distinctness of vision and in details of single
mental objects may thus be made as practice goes on. The essential thing, now, is
patience and persistence. Whether the mental image may be cultivated so that the mental
objects shall assume the electric or sunlit tone, seems doubtful.
But, within certain limits, the eye of the soul will come to see more and more clearly as
persistent endeavor continues. Especially will this be the case if the soul steadfastly wills
that it be so.

The value of the end sought, clear perception, connects ultimately with the consideration
of motives. This requires that things shall be seen as they actually are, that outcomes or
consequences shall be vividly noted, in themselves individually and as comprehended in
groups, in order that their full effect upon mind may be felt, and that adequate
comparison among motives may be instituted. These exercises cultivate eye perception,
memory, mental vision and self control. The end of all is the developed Will.
Exercise No. 8.
Lastly, the eye may be trained to directness of gaze. Some eyes never look into other eyes
steadily, but glance and shift from eye to object, here and there, without purpose or gain.
Some public speakers never look squarely into the faces of their auditors, but gaze either
up at the ceiling or down to the floor, or roam over all their hearers, seeing none. One of
the subtlest elements of inspiration is thus missed, the face, mouth, eyes, attitude of eager
humanity. As a rule, a large element in successful personal address lies in the eye.
Directness of gaze is psychological winner. The straightforward, frank eye is a power
wherever it is seen, on the street, in the store, at the social gathering, on the rostrum.
The might of a good eye can be cultivated. In order to do this, mind must be put into the
"windows of the soul." What men get out of life and nature depends upon the amount of
mind that can be put into the look. If reality is to be possessed, mind must come forward
and take it "by force." The soul in the eye means power with men. Cultivate, therefore,
with every person met, the habit of the direct and steady look. Do not stare. Look people
full in the eyes. The soul must always be in the eye for this exercise. Let the gaze be
open, frank, friendly. And remember, that the vacant stare is a sign of idiocy, and in the
domain of Will is ruled out.
Exercise No. 9.
Gaze steadily, but winking naturally, at a small spot on the wall of a room, eight or ten
feet away. Do not strain the eyes. Count fifty while so gazing. Keep mind wholly on the
thought: The Direct Eye. Put back of that thought the Mood of a strong Will: "I WILL! I
AM FORCING WILL INTO THE EYE."
Repeat this exercise ten times for ten days, with rest, as above, adding each day to the
count fifty, twenty counts; thus, first day, fifty; second day, seventy; third day, ninety.
Exercise No. 10.
A dull gaze is akin to the vacant stare. The steady, direct look ought to be bright and full
of energy. The energy of the eye's regard may be developed, and with profit, if the soul
behind it is honest.

Exercises for the Eye

Gaze at any object in the room near by, steadily, but naturally, that is permitting the eyes
to wink as they will. Put the whole soul into the eyes. Observe, the soul is to be, put into
the eyes, not into or upon the object. And do not look at the nose; look at the object, but
bring consciousness forward to its windows. Summon your entire energy to the act of
looking. Do this repeatedly, resting properly, and never permitting the eyes to grow
weary or to be strained.
Now, think of, and simulate, some emotion, and try to look that feeling with great power.
Examples: Intense interest: Throw delighted attention into the eyes. Deep joy: Assume a
genuine joyful feeling and expression. Avoid the grinning mimicry of the clown. Fierce
hate: Blaze a look at the ink stand sufficient to annihilate its black shape.
Thus with all emotions of the soul. Repeat these exercises daily for months. It is really
worth while. After a time you will discover that you are the possessor of a good eye, and
that your power of Will has grown correspondingly.
Meanwhile having caught the knack of calling the mind's energy to the act of looking,
persist in gazing with all possible forcefulness at all persons and objects met. Acquire the
habit of throwing, not the eye upon the object, but the soul into the eye as it regards the
object, and the idea of Will clear forward in the consciousness. In other words, cultivate
the habit of the direct and penetrating regard, avoiding the stare and all violations of good
taste.
The eye of the average interested child is bright, full of soul power, "magnetic; ", unless
it happen to be an infant still in the thralldom of arms, when the human gaze frequently
becomes something uncanny, preternaturally capable of disconcerting sinners, and
altogether above the plane of practical illustration. The four-year, old, the saintly mother,
and the righteous police judge, have all straightforward and powerful eyes. The eye of
Saint Michael is surely like his sword. The regard of the man Jesus must have been equal
to His word-naked verity. Hence the two secrets of masterful eyes are, directness and
honesty. Here, after all, lies the foundation of Will culture: straightforward means-honest
purposes.
Exercise No. 11.
Having acquired the art of putting soul into the act o vision, straightforward and honest,
now resolve on seeing, naming and knowing the various objects that exist in your
neighborhood, and on any street or road over which you may pass. Cultivate the habit of
intelligent and accurate observation. It is said that "in Siberia a traveler found men who
could see the satellites of Jupiter with the naked eye." Multitudes fail to see a thousand
things which they pass daily during life. A Will fed eye is a rich minister to the values of
life. Browning's lines are symbolic of the outcome.
"German Boehme never cared for plants

Until it happed, a-walking in the fields,

He noticed all at once that plants could speak,
Nay, turned with loosened tongue to talk with him.
That day the daisy had an eye indeed ! "

The Eye and the World Are One

In personal interviews the power of the eye is well known. It plays a very important role.
The following suggestions are of value:
"One of the most important things about the beginning of an interview, is that you should
look the other person squarely in the eye, with a firm, steady, attracting gaze. During the
conversation you may change the direction of your gaze, but whenever you make a
proposition, statement or request, or whenever you wish to impress him strongly, you
must direct a firm, steady, magnetic gaze towards him, looking him straight in the eye."
Remember: Directness of gaze is psychological winner.
A great law now emerges: The value of the use of any sense depends upon the amount
and quality of person thrown into its exercise. The person who unceasingly asserts to his
eyes: "I RESOLVE TO WILL! ATTENTION ! " cannot fail to develop a look or gaze
which is perennially direct and full of energy.

Exercises for the Ear

I had an opportunity of repeatedly observing the peculiar manner in which he (Dr.

Saunderson) arranged his ideas and acquired his information. Whenever he was
introduced into company. I remarked that he continued some time silent. The sound
directed him to judge of the dimensions of the room, and the different voices of the
number of persons that were present. His distinction in these respects was very accurate,
and his memory so retentive that he was seldom mistaken. I have known him instantly to
recognize a person on first hearing him, though more than two years had elapsed since
the time of their meeting." --- Manchester Philosophical Memoirs.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER
The discriminating mind in the ear;
The mind master of hearing;
Direct improvement of Will through willed employment of this sense.
"Well, early in autumn, a first winter-warning,
When the stag had to break with his foot, of a morning,
A drinking-hole out of the fresh, tender ice,
That covered the pond till the sun, in a trice,
Loosening it, let out a ripple of gold,
And another and another, and faster,
Till, dimpling to blindness, the wide water rolled."
PRELIMINARY
If you can see that picture from Browning, you probably can hear the sounds that go with
it. Natural defects aside, one good sense-power assists all the senses. When attention of
the eye begins, the ear often follows. Here is the first communion. Hence three questions
arise: Do you hear! Do you hear correctly? Do you hear what you wish to hear?
Sounds are produced by vibrations in the atmosphere. The human ear is limited in its
ability to respond to these vibrations. Within such natural limits, the more sounds one can
make out the better one's hearing. Loss of sounds is due to defects of ear and abstraction
of mind.

If one hears all noises does one necessarily hear correctly? That is, is the soul always in
the ear? To distinguish tone, quality, direction, etc., of sounds? Is any difference
obtaining in this respect due to endowment or education? Or both?
Probably the latter is true. The value of exercises, therefore, to train the ear, to unfold
latent powers, is evident.
Hearing what one wishes to hear may involve exclusion: one desires to shut out a noise.
Or inclusion: one wishes to enjoy, truly, deeply, certain sounds, harmonics, music. All
depends, now, on the soul. The nervous person hears everything. The dull person hears
little.
Hearing may be shut out by Will. The door is closed to a certain sound. Hearing may be
rendered more acute by Will." Listen! A far-off bird is singing!" "Shh ! A burglar is in
the house!" Education in correctness of ear is preeminently a matter of Will; but of the
persistent Will. The control of the ear exhibits some of the highest phases of self
direction. The educated soul now mounts up on wings through the realm of harmony.
But feeling, thought, imagination, are here the masters. To hear in the best sense involves
the soul. Other things being equal, the largest soul hears most, most correctly, and with
greatest powers of appreciation and appropriation.
The purpose of the exercises that follow is, as with those for the eye, development of
ability to consider motives through discipline of attention, and thus the growth of
intelligent Will power.
REGIMES
Exercise No. 1.
How many sounds are now demanding your attention? Count them. Listen! Try to
distinguish: Their different directions; their different causes; their different tones; their
difference in strength; their different qualities; their different groupings.
Repeat this exercise for ten days, with rest of two days, and on the tenth day estimate the
improvement made.
Exercise No. 2.
Single out some one prominent sound, and note everything which you can possibly say
about it. Repeat this exercise ten times on the first day with a different sound. Repeat
these exercises every day for ten days, with rest of two days, and on the tenth day note
improvement.

Exercise No. 3.
Select the faintest sound that continues coming to you. In doing this try to distinguish
some regular sound which you have not hitherto noticed. Note everything that can be said
concerning it.
Repeat this exercise ten times on the first day, with a different sound. Repeat these
exercises every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement.
Exercise No. 4.
Single out some one of the sounds that come regularly to you. Attend to this sound alone.
Shut out all other sounds. Be filled with it. Become absorbed in it. Note everything which
can be said of it.
Repeat this exercise ten times on the first day, with a different sound. Repeat these
exercises every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement.
Exercise No. 5.
Select the most pleasant sound that continues to come to you. Note all possible reasons
for its pleasantness. Do not fall into reverie.
Repeat this exercise ten times on the first day with a different sound. Repeat these
exercises every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement.
Exercise No. 6.
Listen carefully once to some simple melody played upon an organ or a piano. Try now
to build up in your soul that melody entirely from memory. You may remember a note or
two, but will forget the most of it. If, however, you are persistent, you can gradually
reconstruct the lost tune. The author has often accomplished this building up of music.
Make the exercise a frequent task.
Exercise No. 7.
While one is striking the keys of a piano, first one, then another, endeavor, without
looking at the player, to distinguish the notes, whether sharp or flat, position on the
board, and name of each note.
Repeat with two keys, one hand striking. Repeat with four keys, both hands striking.
Repeat with full chord, one hand striking. Repeat with full chords, both hands striking.
Practice in the above exercises should be continued until you can detect improvement in
compass of hearing, correctness of hearing, control over hearing. Do not become
discouraged. The purpose is Will. Resolve to go on to the end. That end is Will power.

Do nothing without thought. Put the soul into the ear in all these exercises, willing, with
great energy, attention to all sounds, or to one, or to none, as the case may be.
Carry the Mood of Will through every exercise. Exclusion of sound is often an exhibition
of Will, both in the act of shutting sounds out, and in controlling the nerves in regard to
sounds which refuse to vanish. Why, then, should not a more regulated and conscious
mastery of ear be acquired?
Perhaps your hearing is defective and you are not aware of the fact. Or the defect may be
due to a want of acute attention. In order to ascertain the real difficulty, the following
exercise is suggested:
Exercise No. 8.
When all is quiet, hold a watch at arm's length from the right ear. Do you hear it ticking?
No? Move the watch gradually nearer the ear until you hear. Note the distance at which
the ticking first becomes audible. Write the result and mark "Ear No. 8," and date. Repeat
this exercise ten times on its first day. Repeat these exercises every day for ten days, with
rest, and on the tenth day note improvement. Meanwhile induce several other persons to
practice the same exercise so far as to ascertain the distance at which they can hear the
ticking of the same watch.
During the ten days repeat all the exercises with the left ear, correctly marking results. If
you make no improvement in hearing, this may still be due to a constitutional limit.
Continue the practice until you are satisfied that your hearing cannot be improved. Then
consult a physician.
If you do not hear as well as others, this also may be clue to constitutional limit. It will,
nevertheless, be wise to consult a physician.
Perhaps certain sounds which you hear incessantly are destroying you with the threat of
nervous prostration or insanity. Your dear neighbor's piano played through everlasting
hours, or his dog barking all night long, or street hawkers, become evidences of
civilization's chaos. Procure the cessation of these sounds, if possible. If not, resolve to
shut them out of mind. Hence:
Exercise No. 9.
Never fight disagreeable noises by attending to them. Select some particularly hateful
sound which comes to you regularly. Make this a practice for the day. Now, by an
enormous effort of Will attend so powerfully to some other sound or many sounds as to
shut out the one you wish to banish. Continue this effort five minutes. Do not become
discouraged. You can do this act of exclusion if you will do it. After five minutes, rest, by
turning the attention away from sounds in general. Then repeat the exercise by shutting
out the sound ten minutes. Give the matter a half hour, increasing the time of exclusion of

sound with each exercise a few minutes, and resting between efforts by diverting
attention to other things.
Vary the effort to exclude sound by attending with great energy to some agreeable
thought. Do not will directly to shut a sound out of the ear. Will to become directly
absorbed in other sounds or in other matters of thought. Repeat these exercises until you
are master.
Exercise No. 10.
At night, when you are disturbed by hideous noises, stop thinking about them. Insist that
you do not care anyway. Think of a particularly pleasant tune; or thought; or experience.
Do not work: take the matter easily. Call up, mentally, a sound which is totally different
from the one that disturbs you. Cause it to run in the mind, taking care that it has a certain
regularity and rhythm. Imagine the loud ticking of a large clock, or the droning of an oldfashioned waterwheel, or the steady booming of the sea.
Remember, that all thought about the hateful sound only intensifies its power over you.
To rage at a barking dog signifies one of two consequences: the death of the dog
(possibly of its owner), or more nervousness on the part of the man who has no Will.
Similarly with other disturbing noises. The Will that masters them is a growing Will. The
growing Will comes of intelligent exercise, with the Will idea always present, "I
RESOLVE TO WILL I ATTENTION !"
A Harp of 8,700 Strings
Everybody knows how acute the hearing of the blind becomes, probably as Dr. M.P.
Hatfield has observed, "not because they have any better hearing than the rest of us, but
because their misfortune makes them continually cultivate their hearing, for like all of our
faculties it is susceptible of very great improvement under cultivation."
The power of the soul to become so absorbed in itself as to lose consciousness of all
around it, is illustrated by an incident in the life of Thomas Aquinas. "Upon one of the
many occasions when he sat at the table of the king, by invitation, he forgot everything
going on about him, sunk in reflection upon some difficult question in theology, with
which he had been engrossed; suddenly he cried out, striking the table with his fist 'I have
got it.' He had heard and observed nothing but the important thing in hand.
So, also, the soul may become so habituated to the routine of duty that accustomed calls
to duty are recognized while all other appeals are made in vain. Thus a telegraphic
operator, overpowered by sleep, could not be awakened by any ordinary knocking at his
door, but when his station, "Springfield," was rapped out he immediately aroused. A fire
department chief was said when asleep to be deaf to his baby's cry, while instantly alert to
the alarm of his gong. Sleeping sentinels sometimes walk their beats, soldiers march
when buried in slumber, and riders guide their horses though the body rests. These and

similar incidents reveal the Will still dominant. If so, the ear and all senses may be
brought under its perfect control.
Remember: The value of any sense depends upon the amount and quality of soul thrown
into its exercise.
"Not only awaking from sleep do we immediately recognize what the objects around us
are, because, in fact, we have the memories or images of them already in our minds,"
says Edward Carpenter in "The Art of Creation"; but the simplest observation of things
involves a similar antecedent condition, the knowing what to look for. How hard to 'find
the cat' in the picture, or the wood cock in the autumn leaves, till the precise image of
what one wants to see is already in the mind, and then, how easy!
The townsman walking along the highroad perceives not the hare that is quietly watching
him from the farther field. Even when the countryman points it out with all circumstance,
he fails; because the kind of thing he is to see is not already in his mind. Why is it so
difficult to point the constellations to one who has never considered them before? The
sky is simply a mass of stars; it is the mind that breaks it into forms. Or why, looking
down from a cliff upon the sea, do we isolate a wave and call it one?
It is not isolated; no mortal could tell where it begins or leaves off; it is just a part of the
sea. It is not one; it is millions and millions of drops; and even these millions are from
moment to moment changing, moving.
Why do we isolate it and call it one? There is some way of looking at things, some
preconception already at work, in all cases, which determines, or helps to determine,
what we see, and how we see it. All nature thus is broken and sorted by the mind; and as
far as we can see this is true of the simplest act of discrimination or sensation, the knower
selects, supplies, ignores, compares, contributes something without which the
discrimination or sensation would not be."
Since this statement is law, your sound world, that which you construct by your choices
and thought feeling, depends upon yourself. And the deeper and richer is your
consciousness in a state of harmony, the larger and richer will be your life in all the
products of sensation. This means that you should cultivate the mental life in as great and
harmonious a variety as possible, and that the senses should be so trained that through
them you may get the most out of living and put the most of self into life and Nature.
If you will carry the assertion and the feeling: I am now conscious of myself in relation to
the world, now of sounds, now of vision, etc. I am attending to these worlds (one or
another). Putting myself into them, drawing from them constant values, you will find
your life consciousness, your world consciousness, your soul consciousness, growing
broader, deeper, more satisfying and more potent for your own good from month to
month and year to year.

AWAKENING OF THE WILL

There is a practice which can well be introduced here, though it is not alone confined to
interpretation of sounds. It is Leland's method as follows: "Resolve before going to sleep
that if there be anything whatever for you to do which requires Will or Resolution, be it
to undertake repulsive or hard work or duty, to face a disagreeable person, to fast, or
make a speech, to say "No to anything; in short, to keep up to the mark or make any kind
of effort that you WILL do it, as calmly and unthinkingly as may be. Do not desire to do
it sternly or forcibly, or in spite of obstacles, but simply and coolly make up your mind to
do it, and it will more likely be done. And it is absolutely true that if persevered in, this
willing yourself to will by easy impulse unto impulse given, will lead to marvelous and
most satisfactory results." The application of this in the art of sense culture is this:
frequently, before going to sleep impress upon the subconscious mind that you want more
values and richer mind life from the impressions coming in from the outside world.
Confidently expect that your sense of hearing, of tasting, of touching, of sight, etc., are to
store broader knowledge, experience and thought material in your mind. Demand of your
servants, the senses, that they shall unite to the limit of their ability in giving to you, their
master, the values which they create.

Exercises In Taste

The German Physiologist, Valentin, could detect bitter at 100,000th of a solution of

quinine. "Taste can be educated, as the nice discriminations of the professional tea tasters
show. In subconscious conditions it is also abnormally acute." - Text Book.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER
A discriminating mind in taste; A cultivated mind in taste; Willed attention habituating
the Mood of Will.
PRELIMINARY
"The ordinary individual," remarks Mary Whiten Calkins in "An Introduction to
Psychology," "asked to name what he had tasted at dinner, might respond with some such
list as the following; beef bouillon, roast duck, potato, onion, dressed celery, peach ice
and coffee. But the psychologist would conclude at once that some of the tastes
enumerated were complex experiences, made up of simpler elements. He would take
means to isolate, so far as he could, the conditions of tastes, so that other sense elements
should be shut out from consciousness. He would select, as subject of the experiments, a
person without smell sensations, or else he would close the subject's nostrils, so as to
eliminate most of these smell sensations; and he would certainly blindfold the subject, to
prevent his seeing the articles which he tasted. These substances would be presented to
him at an even temperature, and the solids would be finely minced so as to be
indistinguishable in form. judging by the results of actual experiments, the results of such
a test as applied to our suggested menu would be the following: the blindfolded and
anosmic (without smell sensations) subject would as likely as not suppose that he had
tasted chicken broth, beef, potato, an unknown sweetish substance, another unknown
material mixed with a thick tasteless oil, a sweet unflavored substance and a slightly
bitter liquid, perhaps a dilute solution of quinine. A normal person, also blindfolded, but
without closed nostrils, would recognize the onion, the peach, the coffee and often the
olive oil; but would be as likely to confuse the beef and the duck; whereas, if these were
unsalted, the anosmic subject would fail to recognize them even as meats.
"What we know of the different tastes are complex experiences, made up of odors, motor
experiences, pressure and pain sensations, visual elements and a far more limited number
of taste elements than we ordinarily suppose. The odor is the significant element in such
'tastes' as egg, milk, fruit, wine, onion, chocolate, coffee and tea. Tea and coffee are,
indeed, undistinguished from quinine, when the odor elements are excluded, and are
differentiated from each other only by the slight astringency of the tea, that is by the
peculiar pressure experience, the 'puckering,' which it excites.

Work is the Bitter Sweet of Success

"The number of tastes seems to be four: sweet, salt, sour and bitter. But of the physical
Stimuli of taste sensations we know even less than of the indefinitely localized
physiological organ. Chemically distinct substances may even arouse the same
sensational quality, for example, both sugar and acetate of lead give a 'sweet' taste. Only
one general statement may be hazarded: the taste stimulus is always in liquid form. If the
tip of the tongue be carefully dried, a crystal of sugar placed upon it will seem tasteless,
until the tongue again becomes moist enough to dissolve it."
The experiments and investigations which have given us the meager knowledge we have
on the subject of taste sensations and their brain area (little known), have all involved
attention, discrimination, judgment, and so on. The object of the exercises in the present
chapter has exactly similar ends in view, but above all, such work under direction as may
make you the better acquainted with yourself and give to you a greater scope of
consciousness and Self control.
The tongue tastes; it also feels. The sensation of touch is often confounded with that of
taste. During a heavy cold in one's head the tongue feels much, but tastes little. Aerated
water gives the tongue a lively sensation of touch or feeling. Alum "draws " it. Pepper
irritates it to burning. Some strong sweets are slippery. Some strong bitters are smooth.
Cold food is lacking in the taste of warmer. The sensation produced by very cold water is
largely that of feeling. Lukewarm coffee is not enjoyable because the aroma of its steam
and the cold of ice are absent. The facts suggest some experiments. Remember that the
greatest mind is one which has, through the five senses, grasped the most of the outside
world.
REGIMES
Exercise No. 1.
Procure a piece of alum. Merely touch it with the tongue. Now try to perceive its taste in
distinction from its feeling. Repeat this exercise with other "puckery" substances. Repeat
these experiments every day for ten days, with rest of two days, and on the tenth day
observe improvement.
Exercise No. 2.
Close the nostrils between the thumb and forefinger, and, touching the tongue with some
" puckery" substance, try to perceive the taste. Is the idea of taste real or imaginary?
Repeat with various similar articles. Repeat these exercises every day for ten clays, with
rest of two days, and on the tenth day note improvement.

Exercise No. 3.
Place a little pepper on the tongue. Try to distinguish the taste from the irritation. Is there
any difference? Repeat with other substances which "burn" the tongue. Repeat these
exercises every day for ten days, with rest of two days, and on the tenth day note
improvement.
Exercise No. 4.
With white sugar or syrup placed on the tongue, try to distinguish whether the slippery
feeling or the sweet taste is first perceived. Repeat these exercises every day for ten days,
with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement.
Exercise No. 5.
Sweeten equally two glasses of water. Let a friend, while you are not observing, place in
one glass a minute quantity of quinine or other bitter substance. Now taste and note
which glass contains the drug by observing the greater sweetness of the water in which it
has been placed. The quantity of "bitter" may he increased until additional sweetness can
be perceived. If the water begins to taste bitter before increased sweetness is perceived,
the experiment has failed. But do not be discouraged. Repeat until success is reached.
Repeat these exercises every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth day note
improvement.
Exercise No. 6.
Try to recall, with great vividness, with the vividness of reality, from memory, the taste
of various articles; sugar, lemon, quinine, onions, cheese, etc. Note whether one taste is
recalled more vividly than another. Is such recalled taste always associated with a mental
picture of its object, or is it abstract? Does the memory seem to be located in the brain or
on the tongue? Whether in the brain or on the tongue, is it associated with some past
experience? Now think of the tongue, and try to place the remembered sensation,
abstracted from all past experience, there alone. That is difficult, but it can be done.
Repeat these exercises every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth clay note
improvement
Exercise No. 7.
Procure six articles that are fragrant and six articles that have a pleasant taste. Arrange in
pairs, one article of smell with one of taste, and so on until all are thus paired. Take one
pair, and compare the sensation of smell with that of taste. Note similarity and difference
between the sensations. Repeat with each pair. Repeat these experiments with articles that
are odoriferous but not fragrant, and articles that have not an agreeable taste.

Now note whether, in all tests with pairs of articles, the effect upon the "mind" is greater
when the sensation is that of smelling than when it is that of tasting. Then note whether
the difference or similarity of sensation is greater in the case of the first six articles
(fragrant and pleasant) or in the case of the second six articles (odoriferous and
unpleasant). What is the reason for the facts? Repeat these exercises every day for ten
days, with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement.
Why is a meal of the same kind which is eaten in solitude with the same degree of hunger
vastly less agreeable in itself than when eaten among pleasant companions? If this is not
true, you evidently need lessons in sociability. With most people it is true. Eye, nose,
tongue have changed not. Yet the meal looks better, smells better, tastes better. Is this due
to imagination? Is there not, rather, a mutuality of ministration among the senses which
requires the inspiration of friends to bring it fully out? A good eye, a good nose and a
good tongue make a trinity of dining felicity. Add, then, a good heart and a pleasantly
active soul, and the function of Will power in the realm of vision, hearing and taste is
discovered.
Exercise No. 8.
While dining with friends, make the exercises of this chapter the subject of conversation
and experiment so far as consistent with the business in hand, namely, dining in the most
agreeable manner.
Exercise No. 9.
It is a human privilege to put the soul into bodily sensations, or to withdraw it therefrom.
In the one case the word is attention, in the other case it is abstraction. The following
exercise deals with abstraction.
Secure the sensation of any taste or any smell. Now resolutely try to recall from memory
some other different sensation so vividly as to banish the first from mind. For example:
smell of a rose, and then think strongly of the odor of onions. You must entirely forget
the flower while thinking of the vegetable. Or, taste a little sugar, and then put the
sensation out of mind by recalling the memory of wormwood. Or the senses may, as it
were, be crossed. Smell of a pink rose and banish the sensation by strong thought of the
taste of pepper. Or taste alum and think about the smell of ammonia so keenly as to
banish the first sensation.
Repeat these exercises every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth day note
improvement. After all, abstraction is only another name for attention, withdrawn from
one quarter by being massed upon another. Whoever attends intelligently and masterfully
to eye, nose, tongue, has either new worlds of pleasure or new guards against displeasure.
Above all, has this person Will. Attention cultivated involves Will always present.

Exercises in Smell

It is stated in Mr. Stewart's account of James Mitchell, who was deaf, sightless and
speechless, and, of course, strongly induced by his unfortunate situation to make much
use of the sense we are considering, that his smell would immediately and invariably
inform him of the presence of a stranger, and direct to the place where he might be; and it
is repeatedly asserted that this sense had become in him extremely acute. 'It is related,'
says Dr. Abercrombie, "of the late Dr. Moyse, the well-known blind philosopher, that he
could distinguish a black dress on his friends by its smell." Professor Thomas C. Upham.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER
Keenness of attention through discrimination in the sense of smell;
Persistently willed attention a feeder of Will;
A neglected sense cultivated and fullness and power of mind increased.
"In all ages of the world," Dr. William Matthews has said, "a liberal allowance of
proboscis has been admired, while a niggardly one has been held in contempt. The
Romans lilted a large nose, like Julius Caesar's; and it is a significant fact that the same
word in Latin, Nasutus means having a large nose, and acute or sagacious. All their
distinguished men had snuff taking organs not to be sneezed at." "In modern days, large
noses have been not less coveted and esteemed than in the ancient. 'Give me,' said
Napoleon, 'a man with a large allowance of nose. In my observations of men I have
almost invariably found a long nose and a long head go together.'
PRELIMINARY
"The faculty of scent may be cultivated like all other faculties, as is proven by blood
hounds and breeds of dogs which have been specially trained in this direction until it
becomes an hereditary faculty. Those who deal in teas, coffees, perfumes, wine and
butter, often cultivate their powers to a wonderful degree in their especial lines, but with
the majority of people it is the least cultivated of the senses, although Dr. O.W. Holmes
thinks it the one which most powerfully appeals to memory."
The sense of smell, it would seem, then, has been greatly neglected, as is seen in the fact
that the names of odors are almost entirely artificial or derived from association. That it
may be trained may be proved by any druggist or manufacturer of perfumes. The druggist
does not recognize the "smell" of his own shop, but he perceives by the nose when he
enters that of another. Always must he discriminate among odors in his business. The
perfummet lives on the acuteness of his olfactory nerves. The glue maker and soap
refiner exist in spite of their pursuits.

"We have little scientific knowledge of odors," says Calkins. "Even our names for them
are borrowed, usually from the objects to which we chance to refer them, and
occasionally even from their affective accompaniments. Thus we know some odors only
vaguely as good or bad, that is, pleasant or unpleasant, and at the best we can say nothing
more definite than 'heliotrope fragrance' or 'kerosene odor.'' This chaotic state of affairs is
largely due to the limited significance of odors in our intellectual and our artistic life.
"Many smells are, of course, like tastes, obviously complex experiences containing
elements of taste, touch and vision, as well as of smell. The pungency of such smells as
that of ammonia is thus a touch quality; and such experiences as smelling sour milk are
perhaps due to the entrance of particles through the nose into the throat.
"The most satisfactory classification of smells, as we meet them in nature, is that adapted
by the Dutch physiologist, Zwaardemaker, from the classification of Linnaeus. It
recognizes the following classes:
1. Ethereal smells, including all fruit odors.
2. Aromatic smells, for example, those of camphor, spices, lemon, rose.
3. Fragrant smells, for example, those of flowers. "Ambrosias smells, for example,
all musk odors.
4. Alliaceous smells, for example, those of garlic, assafoetida, fish.
5. Empyreumatic smells, for example, those of tobacco and toast.
6. Hircine smells, for example, those of cheese and rancid fat.
7. Virulent smells, for example, that of opium.
8. Nauseating smells, for example, that of decaying animal matter.
An Odor or a Perfume, Which?
We have sensational experiences, known as smells or odors, distinguished from each
other, but not designated by special names; they are probably analyzable into a few
distinct elements, but this analysis has never been satisfactorily made; and they are often
compounded, and sometimes confused with tastes and touches.
"The structure of the physiological end organs of smell is not very clearly made out. Two
phenomena indicate, however, that these organs are so distinct that they correspond both
with different physical stimuli and with different smell experiences. One of these
phenomena is that of exhaustion. Experimental investigations show, for example, that a
subject 'whose organ is fatigued by the continuous smelling of tincture of iodine can
sense ethereal oils almost or quite as well as ever, oils of lemon, turpentine and cloves but
faintly, and common alcohol not at all.' Evidently, therefore, different parts of the end,
organs are affected by these distinct smell stimuli, else the nostrils would be exhausted
for all smells at the same time.
"We know little of the physical conditions of smell. Two statements only can be made
with any degree of assurance. It is highly probable, in the first place, that the smell
stimulus is always gaseous, not liquid; and it is almost certain that the property of

stimulating the end organs of smell is a function of the physical molecule, not of the
atom, since most of the chemical elements are odorless. Summing up both physiological
and physical conditions, we may say, therefore, that certain gaseous particles are carried
by inspiration into the nostrils, where they stimulate cells found in the mucous
membrane, and that these nerve impulses are conveyed by the olfactory nerves to the
temporal lobes of the brain."
The action of the olfactory nerves may be controlled by thought, that is by power of Will.
Arranging paper tubes in such a way as to convey separate perfumes to each nostril, as
suggested by Professor Scripture, " we can smell either one in preference to the other by
simply thinking about it." An experiment may be made of this fact.
REGIMES
Exercise No. 1.
Take some fragrant flower. Inhale its odor. Walk about the room, away from the flower.
Now recall the quality and intensity of the smell. Repeat this exercise with various
extracts and perfumes taken separately. Care must be had to give the nostrils sufficient
rest between whiles, otherwise the sense of smell will become confused.
Repeat these exercises every day for at least ten days, with rest of two days. It will be
better to go on until improvement is certainly noted in keenness of scent and mental
power to describe smells or odors. On the tenth day note improvement.
During all the above and following practice the feeling of strong Will must be kept
constantly at the fore. Put your soul into your nose.
Exercise No. 2.
Procure two different kinds of extracts. Inhale the odor of one. Do the same with the
other. Think strongly of the first odor; then of the second. Now try to compare them,
noting the difference. Repeat this exercise every day for ten days, and on the tenth day
note improvement.
Exercise No. 3.
While sitting erect, gently inhale the air, and try to name any odor perceived. Is it real?
Where does it originate? Let friends secrete some odoriferous substance in a room, a
number of pink roses or an open bottle of perfumery, not known to you, and while you
are in another room. Enter and endeavor by smell alone to find the article. All other
pronounced odors must be excluded from the place. Repeat these exercises every day for
ten days, and on the tenth day note improvement.

Exercise No. 4.
Ask some friend to hold in the hand an object which is not known to you and is fragrant
or odoriferous. He is to hold the article some distance from you, and then gradually to
move it, held unseen in his two hands placed together, nearer and nearer, until you
perceive the odor. Note the distance at which you perceive the object by smell. Can you
name the smell? Can you name the object? Repeat the experiment with intervals of rest,
with various different "smellable" articles.
Do you perceive some at a less distance than others? Why is this? Is it due to strength of
odor or the quality? Repeat the exercise every day for ten days with rest of two days, and
on the tenth day note improvement.
Humboldt declared that Peruvian Indians can, in the darkest night, determine whether a
stranger, while yet far distant, is an Indian, European or Negro. The Arabs of the Sahara
can detect by smell the presence of a fire forty miles away.
Exercise No. 5.
Each of the five senses has the power of continually new discoveries in the world of
reality. Impressions appropriate to each may be related to the huge things of life. High
living puts great significance into even the sense of smell. The present exercise may be
made perpetual. Build up in your life the habit of associating the agreeable odors
perceived in garden, field or wood, with true and great thoughts. Examples: new mown
hay, Whittier's poem, "Maud Muller "; sea-flats, Sidney Lanier's "Marshes of Glynn";
fresh-turned soil, the teeming life of the world; flowers, beauty regnant in the earth. Such
a habit will open new worlds, and it will develop energetic attention, and so tend to build
up a strong Will in your life.
This work may be so conducted as to make improvement possible. Its value always
depends upon the amount of soul put into it, that is, into the nose. The exercises will
cultivate a neglected sense, but more, will develop a power of attention that will surprise
you, and through this a power of Will, which is the end sought. The idea of Will must
always be present. In every act preserve the willing attitude.

Exercises in Touch

"The sense of touch is the most positive of all the senses in the character of its sensations.
In many respects it is worthy to be called the leading sense" - Noah Porter.
"All the senses are modifications of the sense of touch." Demosthenes.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER
Mind thrown into or abstracted from physical feeling at Will;
Will attention making;
Will action deliberative and second nature;
Will prohibitions rendering mind supreme at least cost.
PRELIMINARY
"The sensations of contact and temperature," says Royce, "are due to the excitation of
points on the skin which differ for the various special sorts of experiences in question.
Experiment shows that certain points of the skin are especially sensitive to stimulations
given by cold objects, while other points are sensitive to disturbances due to hot objects.
Our ordinary sensory experience of warmth or of cold is due to a complex excitement of
many points of both these types. Still other points on the skin very wealthily interspersed
among the others, give us, if excited in isolation, sensations of contact or of pressure.
Complex sensory excitations, due to the disturbances of the skin, sometimes with and
sometimes without, notable accompanying organic disturbances, give us our experiences
of hard and soft, of rough and smooth, of dry and moist objects."
There are many very curious facts to be observed in connection with touch. The degree of
feeling arising from touch is usually dependent to a great extent upon attention. We do
not, for example, ordinarily feel our clothing, but when thought turns to the matter it
becomes very apparent. If garments do not fit well, the nerves are likely to take on some
habit of twitching or other unnatural movement. Such habits in children are often due to
this fact.
The Soul's "Open Sesame" is Purpose
For the same reason tickling sensations plague sleep away at night. That wise fool who
calls himself a "business man" bolts his dinner in eight minutes, and tastes and feels
nothing until dyspepsia makes taste and feeling perennial dominators of an unhappy
existence. Another fool consumes alcohol in winter for warmth and in summer for
coolness; the secret of its "beneficent " ministry is its paralyzing power over physical

consciousness. In latter days this man feels heat and cold with the keenness of a skeleton
veiled in the rotten gauze of ruined nerves. The orator who is absorbed in his flights
regards not the busy fly upon his nose nor the physical pain which was insistent before
his soul afire took mastery of sense. The epicure, every sense to the fore, lingers while he
dines, and nourishes delighted boon fellowship with kindred spirits. When the orator has
it before him to listen to another man's lucubrations, his fly becomes a Dante for torture,
and his pains possess the power of a Spanish Inquisition. So, too, when Xantippe appears
at the philosophers' board, the world must lose in Socratic wisdom.
To attend or not to attend is always with feeling an important question. The end nerves
may be brought under large control of the Will. The soldier frequently fails to note that
his arm has been shot off in the onslaught of a charge. Your tooth will cease aching if
your house is afire or your horse is running away with you. If feeling may be thus
dissipated, it may, as well, be called in and controlled by the exercise of Will. Exercises
in touch are therefore suggested for development of Will.
REGIMES
Exercise No. 1.
Pass the ends of each finger of the right hand in turn very lightly over any flat uncovered
surface. Try first a surface which is rough; then one which is smooth. Note the difference
in " feel " between a rough surface and a smooth. This will require a good deal of
attention, for the difference is manifold. Repeat these exercises with several rough and
smooth surfaces. Repeat as above with the fingers of the left hand. Note whether the
feeling is greater with one hand than with the other. Now repeat the experiments with
cloth, of linen, cotton, woolen, silk. The "feel" of each material is peculiar. Compare, by
act, the sense of touch as given by one piece of cloth with that given by another. Continue
these exercises with several pieces of cloth in pairs. Repeat with one hand, then with the
other. What is the main "feel" of silk? Of cotton? Of woolen? Of linen? Have you any
sensation other than touch with any of these kinds of cloth? If so, is it disagreeable? Then
resolve to handle that variety of cloth until the aversion has been mastered. This can be
done, as clerks in great department stores will testify. Repeat all the exercises here given
every day for ten days, and on the tenth day note improvement in touch, delicacy, kinds
of sensations produced, etc.
Exercise No. 2.
Practice touching lightly the surface of an uncovered table, with the separate fingers, one
after the other, of each hand. Note the degree of steadiness with which this is done. Now
repeat the experiment with strong pressure upon each finger of the hands separately
applied. What is the difference in sensation between the light touch and the strong
pressure? Repeat the exercise every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth day note
improvement in discrimination.

Exercise : No. 3.
Grasp a small object, say, a paperweight or a rubber ball, very lightly, just an instant,
dropping it immediately. Then grasp it firmly, and instantly drop. Did you feel the object
with each finger in the first instance? In the second? Make no mistake. What, if any,
difference in sensation did you observe? This requires that the Will command great
attention. Hence it cannot be done carelessly. Repeat every day for ten days, with rest,
and on the tenth day note improvement in touch and power of discrimination and
attention.
Exercise No. 4.
Look at the back of either hand. Now twist the second finger toward you and cross the
first finger behind it. While the fingers are so crossed, press the unsharpened end of a
lead pencil between the finger ends. Look sharp! Do you seem to feel one pencil or two?
Shut the eyes and repeat the experiment. Again, is the sensation of one pencil or two? Is
the deception stronger with eyes closed or open? When the pressure of the pencil between
the crossed fingers is light, or when it is strong? Explain the fact that there are apparently
two pencils. Repeat the experiment with three pairs of fingers. Repeat every day for ten
days, with rest, and on the tenth day note improvements in the various respects suggested.
The eyes being closed in the first experiment, you will probably thrust the pencil against
the side of the third finger, which is now on the outside of the hand. Explain this little
mistake
Exercise No. 5.
With eyes closed, place several objects, promiscuously and separated, upon a table. The
eyes still being closed, move the right hand lightly over the objects and endeavor to
estimate the several distances which separate them. Do not measure by length of hand or
finger. Repeat the exercise with the left hand. Keep the question in mind: which hand is
more nearly correct in judgment. Repeat every day for ten days, with rest, and on the
tenth day note improvement.
Exercise No. 6.
While your eyes are closed, ask a friend to present to you, so that you can examine by
touch alone, but not by taking in your hand, several small objects, one after another. Now
try to determine what the articles are. Examples: small onion, small potato, flower bulb,
piece of dry putty, piece of amber, piece of wax; or some sugar, sand, ground pepper,
salt, etc. Repeat every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement
Exercise No. 7.
Procure small blocks of any material, wood, iron round in shape, and of exactly the same
size, but differing slightly in weight. Say two blocks weigh each 1 ounce, two 1-1/2

ounces each, two 2 ounces each, and so on to a dozen, always having two blocks of the
same weight. Let the weights be stamped or written on one side of the blocks only. Place
them promiscuously on a table, blank side up. Close the eyes and at random pick up one
block and then a second, using the same hand. Determine by "feel" whether the weights
so picked up are equal or not. Estimate the weights in each experiment. Repeat with the
left hand. Repeat with both hands, used alternately. Repeat the experiment in all cases
many times. Continue every day for ten day with rest, and on the tenth day note
improvement in judgment.
Exercise No. 8.
Procure twenty four small wooden models of crystals, cut from blocks about three inches
square. Throw them promiscuously all at once upon a table. With eyes closed, take one in
the hand and observe the mental picture that arises by the sense of touch. Count the faces,
lines, angles. Now open the eyes and note the difference between this mental picture and
the reality. This experiment will be difficult because you are not familiar with the forms
of crystals, and judgment is left to touch alone. To assist, therefore, look at the crystal
models until you are able to shut the eyes and perceive with the eye of the mind the form
just examined. Repeat every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth day note
improvement in judgment.
Exercise No. 9.
When you shake hands with people, note in their grasp any index of their character that
may he suggested. Cultivate the gently firm grasp. Instantly rebuke the bone crusher; he
has a vice which needs destruction. Is the touch of some hands disagreeable to you? Note
in what particulars. Be not ruled by that aversion, but seek such hands, and resolve to
throw off the feeling. This may be useful to you in the "control of others." The effort to
overcome an aversion always develops Will. Determine that nothing which you must
touch more or less habitually shall control the sensation which it produces. Let this
aversion be a type of all tyrannous aversions. Such an aversion means the inability of a
small mind to divert its attention. The really large soul masters irritations and dislikes.
But the guide and controller here is Will. Every aversion conquered signifies power of
Will increased.
"I RESOLVE TO WILL! ATTENTION!!"

Exercises for the Nerves

Standing at the center of the universe, a thousand forces come rushing in to report
themselves to the sensitive soul center. There is a nerve in man that runs out to every
room and realm in the universe. "Man's mechanism stands at the center of the universe
with telegraph lines extending in every direction. It is a marvelous pilgrimage he is
making through life while myriad influences stream in upon him.
"Some Faraday shows us that each drop of water is a sheath for electric forces sufficient
to charge 800,000 Leyden jars, or drive an engine from Liverpool to London. Some Sir
William Thomson tells us how hydrogen gas will chew up a large iron spike as a child's
molars will chew off the end of a stick of candy." - Newell Dwight Hillis.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER
Cessation of unnecessary motion conserves force;
Control of nerves tones up body and mind, and increases the sum total of personal power;
Habituated control of nervous energy exercises and therefore strengthens and regulates
the Will.
PRELIMINARY
Sir Michael Poster once said: " When physiology is dealing with those parts of the body
which we call muscular, vascular, glandular tissues, and the like, rightly handled, she
points out the way, not only to mend that which is hurt, to repair the damages of bad
usage and disease, but so to train the growing tissues and to guide the grown ones as that
the best use may be made of them for the purposes of life. She not only heals; she
governs and educates. Nor does she do otherwise when she comes to deal with the
nervous tissues. Nay, it is the very prerogative of these nervous tissues that their life is,
above that of all the other tissues, contingent on the environment and susceptibility to
education."
We are conscious of sensations apprehended through the various sense organs. But we
are possessed of what is called "general consciousness." One may discover this by sitting
a little time in a room that is perfectly still. The general testimony of the nervous system
will then be perceived. The movement of the heart may be felt; the breathing may
become audible; a murmur may perhaps be noticed in the cars; a general feeling of
warmth or coolness will be observable. You are alive! You are aware of yourself in a
physical sense. You are conscious in particular spots, to be sure, but in a general way also
over almost the entire body. With this "general consciousness " we begin the exercises of
the present chapter. They are important. Do not slight them.

Ethereal Force Awaits Control

REGIMES
Exercise No. 1.
Attend to this "general consciousness" a few moments. Sit quietly, exclude from the mind
all external matters, and take cognizance of the whole body. Put your entire thought upon
this one thing; it will be difficult, for you will desire to think of a thousand foreign things;
but it can be done by persistence and patient willing. Now write out every fact that makes
itself known to you by the testimony of the body. Repeat every day for ten days, with rest
of two days. On the tenth day compare the records. Observe the sum total of facts made
known. Note also any improvement in power of attending to "general consciousness "
and reports of facts or sensations.
Exercise No. 2.
Sitting quietly in a room which is undisturbed, attend as before a few moments to
"general consciousness." Now throw consciousness to some particular part of the body.
Let it be the arm from hand to elbow. Put the whole mind there. Exclude all sensations
except those that arise there. What are the reports? Write these facts for reference. Repeat
this exercise with the hand. With the shoulder. With the back. With the foot. And so on,
with different parts of the body. Always get at the facts testified by consciousness.

Repeat this exercise with the head. Now attend wholly to hearing, not to sounds, but to
the sensation of hearing, in the ears. Again, give undivided attention to sight: let the
whole mind be at the eyes, not on the objects of vision.
Now press upon some spot in the body, say, the back of a hand, or on one cheek, and,
while doing so, locate attention at some other spot so resolutely as to forget the sensation
of pressure. Write the results in each case. Repeat every day for ten days with rest. On the
tenth day compare the records and note the sum total of facts reported, together with any
improvement in number of facts observed and power of attention gained.
Exercise No. 3.
Walk about the room slowly and quietly, keeping the mind wholly upon "general
consciousness." Now rest a moment. Repeat, always retaining your hold on
consciousness, never allowing it to wander, ten times. Make a record of the most
prominent facts reported. Repeat every day for ten days, with rest. On the tenth day
compare the records and note results as before.

Exercise No. 4.
Stand erect in a quiet room, and pass through a regular series of exercises without
weights.
1. Move the right arm, slowly and evenly, directly up from the shoulder, six times.
Keep your mind on the work.
2. From the shoulder, directly out in front, six times.
3. From the shoulder, directly out to the right, six times.
4. With the right hand at arm's length above the shoulder, swing the whole arm in a
semi circle, arm straight, directly down in front, bringing hand to leg, without
bending the body, six times.
5. From the original position down to the right side of leg, six times.
6. With the right arm extended at the right side straight out from the shoulder, swing
it around in front until the hand is directly before the face, six times.
7. With the right hand and arm, reverse all the above movements.
8. Repeat the same movements with the left hand, six times.
9. With the left hand and arm, reverse all the movements.
Remember; these movements must be made deliberately and slowly. Attend to each
exercise with the whole mind. Do not permit wandering thoughts. Put the entire thought
of yourself into every act. Be wholly conscious of what you are doing. Above all, keep
the sense of willing present during each movement. Thrust the Will out into the very
muscles. Repeat every day for ten days, with rest. Or indefinitely.
Exercise No. 5.
Stand erect in a quiet room. Without supporting yourself with the hands:
1. Swing the right foot directly out in front as far as possible while retaining the
balance of the body. Return it to the floor in former position. Make these
movements deliberately and slowly, six times.
2. Swing right foot out to right, sidewise. Return to former position, six times.
3. Swing right foot out in front, around to right, back to position, six times.
4. Swing right foot back and out and tip as far as possible, preserving balance.
Return to position, six times.
5. Swing right foot back as before, around in a semi circle past right side, back to
position, six times.
6. Reverse each movement with right foot, six times.
7. Repeat all movements with left foot, six times.
8. Repeat these exercises every day for ten days, with rest.
The work here suggested must be performed with great vigor, yet slowly and
deliberately, with intense thoughtfulness.

Exercise No. 6.
Stand erect in a quiet room. Look straight ahead.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Slowly turn the face far around to the right, and return, six times.
Look ahead. Turn the face slowly to the left, and return, six times.
Bend the head slowly back, and return, six times.
Bend the head slowly forward and down, and return, six. times.
Drop the head forward on the chest. Slowly swing it to the right, in a circle up to
the right, to the left backward down and back to the left shoulder, to the right in a
circle down to former position, six times.
6. Drop the head back between the shoulders. Swing it, to the right up in a circle to
the right shoulder, to the left down around in front and up to the left shoulder, to
the right down and back to former position, six times.
7. Repeat all exercises every day for ten days, with rest.
Exercise No. 7.
Stand erect in a quiet room. With the mind upon the act, slowly lift the right shoulder up
as far as possible, and return in like manner to natural position, six times.
Repeat with the left shoulder, six times. Repeat the exercises ten times for ten days, with
rest.
Exercise No. 8.
1. Stand erect in a quiet room. Without moving the feet, twist the body slowly
around as far as possible, to the right, then to the left. Practice six times.
2. Stand erect, hands hanging prone at the sides. Bend the body at the hips;
straightforward and down in front; to the right; to the left. Practice six times.
3. Repeat the exercises every day for ten days, with rest, as above.
These exercises are designed to be suggestive. They can be varied. Nevertheless,
an order should be determined upon and rigidly followed. Perform all acts slowly,
deliberately, with the mind intently fixed upon the movement. Keep the Will idea
present. Throw this thought into the limbs and muscles: "I RESOLVE TO WILL!
ATTENTION!!"
Exercise No. 9.
1. Stand erect. Concentrate thought upon self. Now let the mind affirm, quietly,
resolutely, without wandering: "I am receiving helpful forces! I am open to all
good influences! Streams of power for body and mind are flowing in! All is
well!!" Repeat these and similar assertions calmly yet forcibly many times. Do
not be passive. Keep the sense of willing strongly at the fore. Will to be in the

best possible moral condition. Rise to the mood of the threefold health: of body,
of mind, of soul.
2. Continue this exercise fifteen minutes, with brief intervals of rest, at least every
morning of your life.
3. Whenever worried or perplexed or weary, go into this assertive mood and
welcome the forces of the good. These directions if followed will prove of
priceless value to you.
Exercise No. 10.
1. Stand erect. Summons a sense of resolution. Throw Will into the act of standing.
Absorbed in self, think calmly but with power these words: "I am standing erect.
All is well ! I am conscious of nothing but good!" Attaining the Mood indicated,
walk slowly and deliberately about the room. Do not strut. Be natural, yet
encourage a sense of forcefulness. Rest in a chair. Repeat, with rests, fifteen
minutes.
2. Repeat every day indefinitely.
Exercise No. 11.
1. Stand erect. In the same Mood of Will, advance slowly to a table and take a book
in the hand, or move a chair, or go to the window and look out. Every act must be
a willed act, and full of Will.
2. Repeat fifteen minutes with at least six different objects.
3. Continue the exercises indefinitely.
Exercise No. 12.
1. After a moment's rest, deliberately walk to a chair and be seated. Force Will into
the act. Do not lop down. Do not seat yourself awkwardly. Do not sit stiffly, but
easily, yet erect. Now, with the whole mind on the act of getting up, slowly rise.
Try to be graceful, try to be natural, for Will may add grace to nature. Cultivate
the erect posture, whether sitting, standing or walking. Cultivate the vital sense in
all movements. By the vital sense is meant the feeling, "I am alive! Splendidly
alive !" If you are thin-blooded, dyspeptic and nervous, this may at first be
difficult, but it will help you greatly
2. Repeat fifteen minutes.
3. Continue indefinitely.
Exercise No. 13.
The nervous system is very apt to become a tyrant. When it is shattered, or overtaxed,
rest and a physician are imperative demands. But many people who regard themselves as
well are subject to its tyranny. This may be due in part to a want of self control. The
following directions may appear to be absurd; nevertheless, they suggest a way out of
some nervous difficulties:

Sometimes, when you are restive, you experience, on retiring, "creeping " sensations in
the hair of your head; the back of your neck "tickles;" a needle is suddenly thrust into
your arm, or a feather seems to be roaming here and there over your physiology.
Distracted and robbed of sleep, one spot is slapped, another is pinched, another rubbed,
while slumber merely "hangs around." How long is this torture to continue? So long as,
and no longer than, you permit.
Why should one be thus pestered? One needs not to be. It is simply a matter of Will and
persistence. If you have practiced the suggestions relating to attention and abstraction,
you have already acquired power over your nerves by the dominance of mind. In regard
to all such matters, therefore, cultivate the ability to turn the mind elsewhere. So long as
one slaps and rubs and pinches, so long will sensations diabolic continue. Cultivate
indifference to the fly by ignoring it. Do not think about it at all. Put the mind upon some
important and absorbing subject of interest. Will that a particular "tickle" shall appear at
some other place, making choice of the exact spot; it will obey, and meanwhile you will
forget it. If it does not, will it from one place to another, and finally will that it shall
vanish; it will certainly obey in the end. Similarly with regard to any other distracting
"feeling."
As a matter of fact everyone exerts such self control in a thousand instances daily. The
clock's ticking is unnoticed; the railway train is not heard; the huckster's voice is not
perceived; cattle low, and birds sing, and children shout, and a city roars, while the mind
continues unmindful. Busy men who are surrounded by dense populations, and residents
of Niagara, hear neither the "indistinguishable babble" of life nor the thunder of Nature.
Shakespeare has said:
"The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark
When neither is attended; and, I think,
The nightingale, if she should sing by day,
When every goose is cackling, would be thought
No better a musician than the wren."
The accustomed ear is deaf to the world. But the Will hides behind the tympanum to
make custom its beneficent muffler.
You should bear in mind that there is deep design in back of these exercises and tests
offered for your use. You are pursuing this study for the sole reason that you wish
increased power of Will. And precisely this will you secure if you earnestly follow the
instructions given.

"There is one consolation, too, in the carrying out of these tasks. Not a jot or tittle of the
effort expended will he lost or wasted. All is deposited in a very safe bank. What
Professor Sedgwick has said of mind culture is equally true of will culture: 'It is
impossible to estimate the ultimate good to be derived in indirect ways from any bit of
mental cultivation one manages to give oneself.' Not only is nothing lost, but a profit
which bears an analogy to compound interest, is derived. The will is not only laying by a
supply of will power, but by its various exercises it is increasing its own efficiency in
winning will power. The progression is geometrical. It adds to itself its own newly
acquired will power, and thus strengthened, it gains more and more.
"I RESOLVE TO WILL! ATTENTION !"

Exercises for the Hands

I am, and have been, any time these thirty years, a man who works with his hands, a
handicraftsman. If the most nimble fingered watchmaker among you will come to my
workshop, he may set me to put a watch together, and I will set him to dissect, say, a
blackbeetle's nerves. I do not wish to vaunt, but I am inclined to think that I shall manage
my job to his satisfaction sooner than he will do his piece of work to mine." - Thos. H.
Huxley.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER
The hand, mind's executive organ;
The consequent need of a perfect executor;
Culture of mind through mastery of hands;
Enormous reaction upon Will power of culture of mind resolutely determined in manual
training.
The hands are said to indicate, in a general way, the nature of their owner. The so called
"science of palmistry" is based on the inner lines of the hand, and the delicate curving
lines of the finger ends are now observed in prison studies for the identification of
criminals. Yet few people know their own hands. This is because few people really
understand the one condition of all knowledge, attention.
Nevertheless, the hand is one of the most perfect and obedient of servants. Industry,
invention, science, art, reveal the range of its nobility, according to the soul behind it. To
the ditch digger it may be a claw only; to the painter and sculptor an instrument of
creative power. A catapult or a wound dresser, a sword-wielder or a swayer of the pen, a
food producer or a mind revealer, a tool or an instrument of the noblest humanity, the
hand is servant and king among the senses, an index of spirit-values, a prophet of all the
future.
PRELIMINARY
The hand is the executive organ of the body. As the body is the instrument of mind, the
hand, therefore, becomes mind's chief officer in life. The savage wills to procure flesh for
food: the outcome is the spear, the bow and arrow, the hook and net. The hunter wills a
permanent shelter: the outcome is the hammer, the axe, the saw, the trowel, nails and
various building materials.
The house dweller wills agriculture: the outcome is the spade, the pick axe, the shovel,
the hoc, the plow, the rake, the sickle, scythe, cradle, mower, reaper, threshing, mill. The

farmer wills education: the outcome is pen, ink and paper, the printing-press, the
laboratory, the microscope and telescope, the library, the school and college.
The King Must Also Serve
The educated soul wills art: the outcome is the chisel and mallet, the brush and pallet, the
canvas and the museum. The artistic mind wills music: the outcome is the reed, string,
horn orchestral talent. These all will government: the outcome is the throne and sceptre,
the constitution, the court and council rooms, the sword, gun, treaty. Man wills religion:
the outcome is the altar, the Book, the Church, the Rubric; the Concrete Philanthropy of
Soul. Every single step in this long journey, the hand has been omnipresent as the
Executive of the Conquering Will.
Training of the hand always reacts upon the growing mind. It may become a medium by
which to culture the soul and develop the Will. Like Will, like hand. But as well, like
hand, like Will. Whoever puts his whole hand to the growth of Will power, has power of
will wholly in hand.
REGIMES
The following should be practiced:
Exercise No. 1.
1. Examine the hands carefully. Get acquainted with them. Note their peculiarities,
so intently and thoughtfully that you can form a mental picture of them with
closed eyes.
2. Slowly move the limp fingers of the right hand toward the palm until they touch
it, and return in the same manner, six times.
3. Repeat while bringing the thumb in the same manner under to meet the fingers six
times.
4. Repeat with stiffened muscles, each exercise above, six times.
5. With hand extended, open, slowly spread fingers and thumb from one another,
and return to touch, six times.
6. Repeat all exercises with the left hand, six times.
7. Repeat every day for ten days, with rest of two days.
8. What is the value of these directions? None at all, unless you think, and above
everything else, put Will into each movement.
Exercise No. 2.
1. Saw off six inches of an old broom-handle. Stand erect. Fill the lungs. With the
right hand held straight out in front and at arm's length, grasp the piece of wood,
and slowly and gradually grip the same, beginning with light pressure and
increasing to the limit of strength. Repeat six times.
2. Repeat with the arm straight out at the right side, six times.

3. Repeat with the arm straight up from the right shoulder, six times.
4. Repeat with the arm prone at the right side, six times.
Exercises for the Hands
5. Repeat with the arm straight back from right side, and held up as far as possible,
six times.
6. Now exercise the left hand in the same manner, following the order above
indicated. The exercises may be alternated between the right hand and the left.
Example: Entire exercise with right hand; same with left, twelve times. Also, each
part of exercise with right and left hands, twelve times.
7. Remember, the lungs should be inflated during each movement, and a slight rest
should be indulged from time to time. Above all, a sense of Will must be kept
strongly in mind.
8. Repeat every day for ten days, with rest of two days.
Exercise No. 3.
1. Procure a spring balance weighing scale, registering ten or twelve pounds. Insert
the broom handle in ring. Drive a nail into a table, the length of the balance from
the edge, and enough more to permit the thumb of the hand grasping the wood to
curve under the table edge and cling. Now throw the balance hook over the nail,
grasp the wood with fingers of right hand, thumb under table edge, and by finger
movement only (do not pull with the arm) draw on the balance as hard as
possible. The balance-hook must pull on nail far enough from the edge of the
table to prevent the fingers while drawing as suggested from quite touching the
palm of the hand.
2. Repeat, with intervals of rest, six times.
3. Make a dated record of pull indicated in pounds and fractions, mark right hand,
and preserve.
4. Repeat with the left hand, six times.
5. Continue every day for ten days, with rest. On the tenth day, compare records and
note progress.
6. In this work, never fail an instant to put Will into each movement.
7. In particular, note, from time to time, whether or not you can increase pulling
power of fingers by sheer exercise of Will. Observe which hand registers greater
improvement in given time.
Exercise No. 4.
1. Rest two days from the tenth day. Repeat the above exercises with right and left
hands alternately, six times in all, while some one is playing upon any good
instrument a strong and rapid musical composition. Make record as before.
2. Continue for ten days, with rest. Summons constantly a feeling of the greatest
resolution possible, during all movements.

The King Must Also Serve

3. On the tenth day, compare records and note improvement in each hand. Observe
which hand has now made the greatest improvement.
4. Observe especially whether music has seemed to increase Will power. Explain
that fact.
Exercise No. 5.
1. Imagine that you hold a revolver in the right hand. Now think of pulling the
trigger. Throw a sense of great energy into the finger, but do not move it. Now
hold the breath and repeat the imaginary act. Do you feel energy in the finger as
before? Resolve to do so. Will mightily to that end.
2. Repeat with all fingers in turn. Right hand. Left hand. Six times.
3. Repeat for ten days. Observe final improvement.
Exercise No. 6.
Set the hands to the learning of some useful mechanical trade, the skillful use of various
tools, as carving, engraving, cabinet making. If already so employed, take up some
musical instrument, or drawing, or painting. Resolve to master one thing! Persist until the
goal is yours.
Exercise No. 7.
Strive to cultivate and maintain a feeling of nice and confident skill while engaged in any
manual work, as advised in "Business Power" under the caption, "Skilled
Craftsmanship." "The idea is a sense in consciousness of nicety, delicacy, perfection, in
every member of the body, used at any time. This gives harmony between the conscious
and the deeper or subconscious self , a harmony always needful to the best work. One
man is the 'bull in the china closet;' another is deftness itself. As a matter of fact, the most
skillful persons possess this consciousness without being particularly aware of it."
Exercise No. 8.
"The best results demand a man's best conscious powers on the matter in hand. You are
urged to multiply yourself into what you do. But in doing a thing skillfully, having the
skilled feeling developed, you really depend on the acquired habits and ability which
previous thought has 'bedded down' in the deeper self. You should, therefore, remember
that the trained deeper self may be trusted. Oftentimes, when your ordinary thinking
becomes overanxious or 'flurried,' you confuse your own skill. Some things which we do
perfectly without conscious effort, we immediately 'muss up' if we try carefully to attend
to all details.
Do not permit the hurried feeling to take possession of your nerves. When such feeling
does occur, quiet yourself by an act of Will; turn, if necessary, to other work for a time,

and thus prevent the habit of unsteadiness of spirit and body, so obviating 'hair-trigger'
conditions and a thousand blunders."
Exercise No. 9.
Above all, never permit yourself to be pushed in your work beyond a pace consistent with
the best results. Remember, when the mind is steady the hand is almost sure to follow
that condition.
These exercises may be continued with profit, provided the idea of Will is everlastingly
borne in mind.

Exercises in Steadiness

The most interesting fact about these experiments in steadiness is that the Will is to have
a steady position, but the execution is defective. As the Will is exerted the steadiness of
position is increased. This is sometimes so marked as to be visible to the eye directly. I
have seen the scalpel tremble in a surgeon's hand so that a serious accident appeared
inevitable; yet when the supreme moment came the hand guided the knife with admirable
steadiness." - Prof. E. W. Scripture.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER
Physical quietness conducive to self-control;
Self control the generator of energy;
Regulation of energy a dynamo of Will.
The importance of steady nerves is everywhere apparent. The unsteady duelist is doomed.
The nervous surgeon acquires small practice. The trembling pen writes a crabbed "hand."
The agitated speaker loses his audience. Great undertakings frequently require perfect
mastery of the body, in games, in business, in national affairs. The ninth inning of an
even game of ball will largely depend upon Will and self control. When the engineer of a
fast mail train cannot "hold himself up" to a mile a minute, he must give way to a better
man. Diplomacy, in trade, politics and international councils, demands the impassive
face. The movement of an eyelash often involves the destinies of life and of war.
Under fierce provocation men sometimes find the nerves giving way to pressure of anger
or fear; the soul then commands itself: "Steady, now! Steady!" Body responds to
conditions of mind. If mind is a tremble, nerves reveal the fact. The panic of fear sets the
nervous system on the edge of collapse, resulting, unless mastered, in the stampede of a
western ranch or the tumultuous rout of a Bull Run battle. The controlling and fearless
man is one who is "nerved" to the situation. The value of attention to steadiness is thus
indicated. Such value has a physical relation through mind; but it may also affect mind
through body.
PRELIMINARY
Of course "trembling" nerves which are the result of disease require medical treatment.
But this trembling may frequently be overcome by intelligent practice and determined
Will. In the end any such practice must tend to increase the power of Will itself. Dr.
Scripture asks "Can steadiness be increased by practice? This problem can be answered
in respect to the hand."

And, after records of experiments, he says "The question of the possibility of gaining in
steadiness by practice is thus definitely settled. "The chief object of the following
suggestions is growth of Will.
Nerve Leakage Saps the Brain.
Hence, Will must always be present in the movements directed. Let the mind constantly
affirm: "Attention! I resolve to will! I am wholly engaged in willing this act!"
REGIMES
Exercise No. 1.
1. Stand erect. Breathe naturally. In the most resolute mood possible stand perfectly
still while counting one hundred at a moderate rate. There should be no
movements except those of breathing and winking. Do not stare, Do not permit
the body to sway. Stand firmly, but naturally. Relax and rest one hundred counts.
Repeat, with rests, six times.
2. Be seated, erect, but in an easy posture. Remain perfectly quiet as above directed
while you count one hundred. Rest as before. Repeat with rests, six times.
3. Repeat above exercises every day for ten days, with rest of two days. The time
suggested is merely an example; practice may well be continued indefinitely.
Exercise No. 2.
1. Stand erect. Breathe and wink naturally. Fix the eyes upon some small object on
the wall of your room, say a nail head or the cornier of a picture, or a round spot
made with a pencil, and large enough to be seen at a distance of eight feet. Place
the tip of the forefinger of the right hand, palm toward face, directly on a line
running from the right eye to such object or spot. Slowly move the hand, palm
toward the face, from your body along such imaginary line, keeping the tip of
finger rigidly thereon, until the arm is fully extended, and return to original
position in the same manner-six times.
2. Repeat with edge of hand toward face, six times.
3. Repeat with back of hand toward face, six times.
4. Repeat, shutting thumb and first finger, with second finger, six times.
5. Repeat with each of the remaining fingers as above suggested, six times.
6. Repeat with the fingers of the left hand.
7. Continue these exercises every day for ten days, with rest.
Exercise No. 3.
1. Stand erect. Extend the right arm, limp, at full length, pointing with the forefinger.
Move the whole limp arm, slowly and evenly, from left to right, so as to describe
a perfect circle of several feet diameter, drawing it with the finger. Six times. Not
too rapidly. Do not jerk. Control trembling and unevenness of movement.

2. Reverse, six times.

3. Repeat with arm stiffened, and reverse, six times.
4. Move the limp left arm from left to right, running tip of finger along an imaginary
line as diameter of the circle, six times.
5. Reverse, six times.
6. Repeat with stiffened arm, six times. Reverse, six times.
7. Repeat with right arm limp, from right to left, on a straight line, six times;
stiffened arm, six times.
8. Reverse, six times.
9. Repeat and reverse with left arm limp.
10. Repeat and reverse with right arm stiffened, six times. Left arm, six times.
11. Continue for ten days, with rest.
Exercise No. 4.
1. Assume any position with the entire body, or any part. Maintain it steadily while
counting one hundred. Rest. Repeat six times.
2. Repeat with various other positions, each six times, for ten days.
3. During all this practice, the mind must not be permitted to wander in the least.
You must think every act intently. Put the Will sense into all movements. The
eyes must follow the lines suggested. The head should not move with the arms.
Throw the Will into the end of the finger. Maintain always the resolute mood.
Remember the goal.
"He who is incapable of controlling his muscles," said Maudsley," is incapable of
attention."
Exercise No. 5.
This exercise should be observed during life. Acquire the habit of physical quietness
while the body is mainly at rest. Whether sitting or standing eliminate all unnecessary
movements of hands, fingers, legs, feet, eyes, lips. A nervous youth who was subject to
twitching of the hands and features, was cured by the threat of an old sea captain, with
whom he made a long voyage, that he would flog him unless the habit was mastered.
Nerve Leakage Saps the Brain.
Fear aroused the Will. Set your Will to the control of such movements. In order thereto,
practice stated periods of sitting and standing while thinking of these motions but
resolutely forbidding them. Set regular hours for this exercise, varied in position, in the
morning, fifteen minutes. Always practice when weary or nervous. Put into the exercise
great strength but calmness of Will.

A striking suggestion of your power in this direction may be seen in the following
paragraph:
In the Life of Dr. Elisha Kane, the famous Arctic explorer, his biographer says: "I asked
him for the best proved instance that he knew of the soul's power over the body. he
paused a moment upon my question as if to feel how it was put, and then answered as
with a spring: 'The soul can lift the body out of its boots, sir ! When our captain was
dying, I say dying; I have seen scurvy enough to know, every old scar in his body a
running ulcer. I never saw a case so bad that either lived or died. Men die of it, usually,
long before they are as ill as he was. There was trouble aboard. There might be mutiny so
soon as the breath was out of his body. We might be at each others' throats. I felt that he
owed the repose of dying to the service. I went down to his bunk, and shouted in his ear,
"Mutiny! Captain! 'Mutiny! He shook off the cadaverous stupor. "Set me up!'' said he,
"and order these fellows before me!" He heard the complaint, ordered punishment, and
from that hour convalesced.'"
Exercise No. 6.
The surest steadiness of nerves and muscles must come from poise of soul and tone of
health. You can acquire the first if you will take a few minutes each day for absolute
quietness of mind and body, shutting out all ideas of hurry, worry, business and activity
of every kind, thinking intensely of, and asserting that you are now in, a state of perfect
mental poise.
The tone of health is provided for in the following chapter and in "Power For Success." A
self controlled, vigorous person should possess steadiness of nerves, though occasions
may arise in which the Will must be called on for assertion of existing power. Edward
Carpenter tells a strong story in "The Art of Creation " which illustrates the value of great
physical vigor on emergency, and suggests what general poise plus power of Will may
achieve under psychic stress equal to that of the freezing conditions referred to in the
incident.
" I knew a miner from Manitoba, and a good wholesome man he was, who told me that
one night a stranger knocked at the door of his log cabin on the edge of Lake Superior
and begged help, saying that he and a companion had been crossing the lake on the ice,
and that the companion had given out.
He who had knocked at the door had come on alone for assistance. My friend picked up a
lantern, and the two hurried down across the ice. The night was very cold and dark, but
after some searching they found the man. He was lying stretched frozen and 'stiff as a
log.' They picked him up and carried him back to the cabin, and sat up all night and into
the next day continually rubbing and chafing his body. At last he came to and made a
complete recovery, and in a few days, except for some marks of frostbite on his skin
showed no sign of damage. Surely that was a holy man, in whom the frost, though it went
right through his body, could find no sin."

A "holy " man is a whole man, and the latter possesses nerves and physical tone equal to
all demands as should be true of every human who is king (or queen) in the inner and the
outer life. For when you are "holy," whole, sound, you command both body and mind.

General Health

Carrying any business or study in the mind all the time, day and night, morning and
evening, does not really advance that business so much as forgetting it at intervals and
letting the mind rest, as you allow your muscles to rest after any physical exertion. Mind
allowed to rest gains new ideas and new force to carry out ideas.
"What is the remedy? More recreation. More variety of occupation. More selves in our
one self. To attain the highest and happiest life we need to have two, and possibly three,
if not four lives in one to be merchant in the morning and artist or yachtsman or
something else in the afternoon, and in the second life forget for the time all about the
first, and in such forgetfulness rest the first life or set of faculties, recuperate them,
refresh them, and go back to business, or art, or science, or any occupation, next day,
with more force, plan, idea, thought to put in it." - Prentice Mulford.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER
State of Will depends upon condition of physical health; Physical health is a goal of
science, and is reached through the resolute and persistent Will;
Every rule of health deliberately followed becomes a developer of Will power. The
momentum of a well person thrown into Will culture is enormous, and is certain of real
attainments.
A condition of general health is of paramount importance to development of Will. In a
sense, Willpower is emphatic personality, and the emphasis of personal resolution, which
is the strong Will, depends largely upon physical conditions. There are great Wills in
feeble bodies, but this is probably the exception. The influence of pain, discouragement,
invalidism, upon our power of willing, is well known. Ordinarily a man's average power
of Will is determined by his average of health. "Hence vigorous self determination
depends upon plentiful and wholesome blood supply, or ultimately upon good food well
digested and good air well inhaled. The secret of energy, and even of ethics, in the last
analysis, is largely in sound digestion and good ventilation. Lessen or vitiate the supply
of blood, and you may produce any desired degree of inaction and helplessness. On the
contrary, cerebral congestion in a vigorous person (as in the insane) may generate
tremendous outbursts of muscular activity and stern resolution."
Undoubtedly the mind exercises a great influence over the body, and when sufficient Will
power can be mustered to banish fear and nervousness, and to summons a strong psychic
condition, certain forms of ailing or disease may be benefited or even cured. "Will to be
well! This, strictly speaking, is the 'mind cure'; is potent in nerve diseases, and is not
useless in other maladies."

A Temple for Emphatic Personality

Every intelligent physician understands this and seeks to cultivate in his patients the
helpful, assertive and hopeful mood of mind. "A strong motive to live positively keeps
some people alive," said a noted Scotch physician.
But mind is influenced by body. Frequently such influence masters the soul before Will
can be summoned, and to such a degree that the necessary sense of Will can no more be
put forth than a determination to perform a physical or religious miracle. Hence, the best
advice of common sense in regard to health would attempt to combine these forces of
nature proper attention to physical conditions, a resolute state of Will, and tried and
proved medical practice. But see Rule 14 below.
"Nevertheless, it is important fully to understand," as Dr. A. T. Schofield remarks in "The
Unconscious Mind," "that when the brain is restored to health by good nerve tissue and
healthy blood, it can be made by suggestion to exercise as healthy an influence over the
body as previously it exercised a harmful one. If ideal centers can produce ideal diseases,
surely the rational cure is to bring these ideal centers into a healthy condition, and then
make them the means of curing the ideal disease. Mental disease requires, and can
ultimately only be cured by, mental medicine."
In time of peace prepare for war. In time of health fortify against disease. Here notice :
SOME IMPORTANT RULES
Rule 1.
Food should be regulated according to peculiarities of body and general work performed.
Water which is pure should be freely drunk. Plenty of sound sleep should be secured, and
slumber should be enhanced by plenty of pure air. Most people drink too little water. The
air of many sleeping rooms is foul. Regularity of habits should be cultivated. Sufficient
exercise must be taken to keep the muscles from degeneration and to vitalize the blood by
activity of lungs.
Rule 2.
Rest is also important. For the laboring man absolute idleness is not always rest;
interested activity which brings unused muscles into play is better. This general truth lies
at the bottom of popular employment of the day called Sunday. But such employment is
largely injurious rather than beneficial. It frequently involves wrong methods as well as
various excesses. The most wholesome rest as yet discovered for that day is suggested by
religion. If you sneer at this proposition, that shows that you do not know what real
religion is, or that your Will is set in directions contrary to the deepest instincts of
mankind.

There are people who are always too tired to attend religious exercises on Sunday, who
nevertheless waste health in other ways, or dawdle around with listless energies that
exercise neither mind nor muscles. The normally and intelligently religious person never
complains that his observance of the Day wearies or unfits him for the week following.
To be sure, it is possible to "dissipate" in this matter, and some people shoulder the
universe while church bells are ringing, leaving, apparently little for the Almighty to
accomplish alone. Nevertheless, testimony agrees that a healthful religious use of Sunday
tones the system in every department. This is not Puritanism; it is common sense. The
laboring man would improve his condition if he would quit his enemies and ally himself
with at least a little semblance of sound reason.
Rule 3.
Above all, anger, irritation, jealousy, depression, sour feelings, morose thoughts, worry,
should be forever banished from mind by the resolute, masterful Will. All these are
physiological devils. They not only disturb the mind, but injure the body by developing
poisons and distorting cells. They prevent an even circulation. The poisons which they
generate are deadly in the extreme. They induce more or less permanent physiological
states which are inimical to vigorous Will. They dispel hopefulness, and obscure high
motives, and lower the mental tone. They should be cast out of life with the resolution
that as aliens they shall always be treated.
Rule 4.
Resolve, then, upon the following perpetual regimes
1. Determine to live in a regular manner. Nevertheless, be master of rules, not slave.
2. Shun rich pastries and foods and drink which stimulate but do not nourish.
3. Keep the body clean. Bathe frequently, always rinsing in fresh water, cooler than
the first, unless you are convalescent, and dry thoroughly.
Rule 5.
Attention! A bit of perfumery dropped into the bath, or applied thereafter, will cultivate
physical pride, not vanity, which will prize the body and make clean flesh a delight.
Rule 6.
After vigorous drying, rub and knead and slap for a few minutes. If the bath has been
taken during the day, keep up a gentle but resolute activity a short time before going out
of the dressing room. Then assume a self-possessed and assertive mood of mind, with
Will strongly at the fore.
If the bath is taken before retiring, get into a clean garment, and then sprawl over every
foot of bed-linen, of a proper temperature, luxuriating, resting, conscious of being a clean

and very good sort of person. Now note with shut eyes what you see of colors and shapes
in the inky darkness before you, and sleep.
Rule 7.
Drink at least four full glasses of pure water every day unless you are too fleshy, in which
case consult a physician. For most people more would probably be better. In addition,
drink whenever you want water, except when heated. If heated, refresh the mouth by
rinsing, but do not swallow for a time. Of course it is here supposed that you have
stopped exercise in a heated condition. Drink at your meals, before, after. Don't gulp icewater. Don't boil your stomach with hissing hot water. A good drink is composed of
rather hot water with milk to color well, and enough salt to taste. Drink water freely
before retiring.
Rule 8.
Make sure of pure air in your sleeping room. Don't sleep in a draft. If possible sleep with
head away from open door or window. Place a light screen between yourself and the
source of air. See to it, however, that the pure air can get to you. Don't sleep in a hot
room. Don't sleep in a freezing atmosphere.
Rule 9.
Keep your sleeping room clean. Make it attractive. That room ought to be the best in the
house. It is frequently the poorest. If it is a small hired room, sacrifice many things for
furniture, pictures, ornaments, articles of toilet. Do not suppose that, because you are a
male biped, you are above these suggestions. You are occupied with dirt all day; why not
get away from dirt at night? Man is an animal with a soul, and therefore may not wisely
"bunk down" like a dog, or "stall in " like a horse or an ox.
Rule 10.
Keep body and clothing as clean as possible. Labor, in a clean shirt and blouse, can do
better work than in garments grimy with dirt and grease. People who do not handle dirt
have, of course, no excuse for being unclean. There is also unnoticed benefit in
occasional change of the outer garments. It rejuvenates a suit of clothing or a dress to
hang it in good air a day or two. The mind of the wearer in turn gets a fresh feeling by
donning different clothing, or by varying the combination. Even a fresh necktie or
polished shoes make a man feel new for an hour, and that is eminently worth the while.
Few people are dandies or flirts; hence a flower on the person every day would minister
to self respect and a high toned consciousness, having a direct bearing upon the soul's
power of Will. A handkerchief touched with a bit of perfumery, though it be a red
bandana in a mechanic's hands, would serve a similar purpose. Let fools laugh! A good
Will has no care for asses' braying. A real man need be neither a prig nor a boor.

"It is related of Haydn, the musician, that, when he sat down to compose, he always
dressed himself with the utmost care, had his hair nicely powdered, and put on his best
suit. Frederick II. had given him a diamond ring; and Haydn declared that, if he happened
to begin without it, he could not summon a single idea. He could write only on the finest
paper; and was as particular in forming his notes, as if he had been engraving them on
copper plate."
Rule 11.
Similarly as to good music. "Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons,"
said Dr. O. W. Holmes, " and you will find that is to the soul what the water bath is to the
body." This elevates and tends to maintain the tone of one's mind. Seek, therefore, every
clean opportunity for hearing it. Purchase some kind of instrument for the home, and see
that its beneficent harmonies are often heard. Let music be as much a part of the day's
routine as eating or reading or working.
Rule 12.
Discard, resolutely and forever everything thought to be injurious to health.
Rule 13.
Always and everywhere cultivate high mindedness. Maintain the resolute Mood of Will.
Assert yourself, for every good influence, against every evil thing. Carry with you in all
activities the sense of nobility, of health, of success.
Rule 14.
It should now be added that beyond dispute, personal power for maintaining and securing
health is not confined to mere Will as commonly understood. Below all moods of
cheerfulness, hope, courage and Will, in ordinary thought, hides a dynamic psychic force
which is capable even of "miracles," and which will ultimately rid the earth of disease
and death. This psychic force is expressed partly in mental thought, but more perfectly
and prophetically in a psychic state which is a complex of assumption, assertion, Will or
sovereign authority, an idea of command in action conquering illness and securing health,
and confidence and profound realization, that is, thought-feeling of betterment.
The oath leading to such state is that of expecting effort to feel the state within the inner
center of person. One should affirm that universal good is pouring in; one should assume
and assert the fact; one should assume and assert that the ground of one's existence is the
Infinite Reality, that one has deeply imbedded in the deeps of soul the idea of self as
whole because the Infinite Ground does not and cannot wish otherwise, and that as the
universal good enters from without and the Infinite Self emerges from below up into the
subconscious personal self, all inharmonious conditions are necessarily passing away,
being expelled.

The process above suggested cannot be acquired by brief and haphazard efforts. The soul
must essay the process again and again until it discovers the process. Thereafter it must
put the process into action incessantly until facility and power in its use are acquired.
But observe: In real illness call your physician AND at the same time bring your psychic
poseur into requisition. The notion that the physician and psycho-auto treatment are
inconsistent and antagonistic is utterly false. Do not omit either method. Rise to the
highest level of a free use of anything under heaven which helps life to health. Make all
the above suggestions a perpetual regime of your life. "ATTENTION! I RESOLVE TO
WILL! !"

Mental Regime
Exercises in Attention

It is subject to the superior authority of the Ego. I yield it or I withhold it as I please; I

direct it in turn to several points; I concentrate it upon each point as long as my Will can
stand the effort." -- Dictionaire Philosophique.
THEORY of CHAPTER
Attention, become habituated, involves constant and strong action of Will;
The idea of Will power, always present in the effort to habituate attention, will come to
possess and dominate the mind;
Such domination, by a psychic law, develops the function which it concerns.
The preceding chapters have had in view the development of Will by means of physical
exercises. If the suggestions hitherto given have been followed, self-culture has resulted
with marked growth in this direction. While our work has been physical, the mind has
nevertheless been directly involved, for always the Will has thrust itself forward, both as
ruler and as object. We are now to enter more particularly the mental field, with the same
end in view.
PRELIMINARY
The value to the Will of perseverance in this work would seem to be evident. A
determined effort to develop the volitional power must certainly result in its growth. But
mental activity having this end in view will generate unconscious processes making for
the same goal. Doctor Holmes has said: "I was told, within a week, of a business man in
Boston, who, having an important question under consideration, had given it up for the
time as too much for him. But he was conscious of an action going on in his brain which
was so unusual and painful as to excite his apprehensions that he was threatened with
palsy, or something of that sort. After some hours of this uneasiness, his perplexity was
all at once cleared up by the natural solution of his doubt coming to him, worked out, as
he believed, in that obscure and troubled interval."
"We are constantly finding results of unperceived mental processes in our consciousness.
Here is a striking instance, which I borrow from a recent number of an English journal. It
relates to what is considered the most interesting period of incubation in Sir William
Rowan Hamilton's discovery of quaternion. The time was the 15th of October, 1843. On
that day, he says in a letter to a friend, he was walking from his observatory to Dublin
with Lady Hamilton, when, on reaching Brougham Bridge, he 'felt the galvanic circle of

thought close'; and the sparks that fell from it were the fundamental relations between i, j,
k, just as he used them ever afterwards."
Exercises in Attention
If, then, the brain may unconsciously work out specific results of thought under the
influence of a desired end, the idea of a mighty Will, kept constantly before the mind and
directing given and continuous mental exercises, will undoubtedly generate a process
always tending to build up the volitional powers. And as the Will is located throughout
the entire mind, the latter must be wholly brought into action for the Will's training and
development.
The secret of our future labor will be found in that which has been absolutely
indispensable all along, to wit: ATTENTION. But attention is hereafter to be confined to
the intellect. Its direction is not so much outward as inward; its subject is not so truly the
senses as the mind and its extension, so to speak, by means of the senses.
"The essential achievement of the Will," says Prof. William James, "when it is most
voluntary, is to attend to a difficult object and hold it fast before the mind." "Effort of
attention is the essential phenomenon of Will."
But what do we mean by the word Attention? Professor James Sully says: "Attention may
be roughly defined as the active self direction (this involves Will) of the mind to any
object which presents itself to it at the moment." He refers to the makeup of the word: ad
tendere, to stretch towards. "It is somewhat the same as the mind's 'consciousness' of
what is present to it. The field of consciousness, however, is wider than that of attention.
Consciousness admits of many degrees of distinctness. I may be very vaguely or
indistinctly conscious of some bodily sensation, of some haunting recollection, and so on.
To attend is to intensify consciousness by concentrating or narrowing it on some definite
or restricted area. It is to force the mind or consciousness in a particular direction so as to
make the objects as distinct as possible."
Now, Dr. Scripture remarks on the same subject: "The innumerable psychologies attempt
to define it, but when they have defined it, you are sure to know just as much about it as
before."
Then, to show the difference between the "focus" (of the mind) and the "field" of the
present experience (consciousness), he writes: "Ask your friend, the amateur
photographer, to bring around his camera. He sets it up and lets you look at the picture on
the ground glass. The glass is adjusted so that the picture of a person in the middle of the
room is sharply seen; all the other objects are somewhat blurred, depending on their
distance from him. Change the position of the glass a trifle. The person becomes blurred
and some other object becomes sharp. Thus, for each position of the glass there is an
object, or a group of objects, distinctly seen while all other objects are blurred. To make
one of the blurred objects distinct, the position of the glass must be changed, and the
formerly distinct object becomes blurred.

A Focused Soul Fears Nothing

"In like manner, we fully attend to one object or group of objects at a time; all others are
only dimly noticed. As we turn our attention from one object to another what was
formerly distinct becomes dim.
"The illustration with the camera is not quite complete. You can keep the objects quiet in
the room, but you cannot keep your thoughts still. The mental condition would be more
nearly expressed by pointing the camera down a busy street. You focus first on one thing,
then on another. The things in focus pass out of it, others come in. Only by special effort
can you keep a moving person or wagon in focus for more than a moment."
To "attend," therefore, is to keep the mind "focused" on the one thing, whether it lies
among subjects of thought which correspond to the furniture of a room or to moving
objects seen in a busy street.
Attention is the "effort of the mind to detain the idea or perception, and to exclude the
other objects that solicit its notice." This requires a strong action of the Will. Resolute
exercise of attention, therefore, must strengthen the Will's power.
REGIMES
Exercise No. 1.
Sit quietly at ease in a room where you will not be disturbed. By a supreme effort of Will,
drive every thought and fancy out of mind. Hold the mind blank as long as possible. How
long can you sustain this effort successfully? Be not discouraged. Persistence will win.
After a genuine attempt, rest a few moments. Then try again. Practice the exercise daily
for ten days, with rest of two days, making at least six attempts each day. Keep a record
of results, and at the end of the period note improvement. The Will must be taught to be
supreme.
Exercise No. 2.
Sit quietly as before. When the mind is a blank, hold it so for a few seconds. Then
instantly begin to think of some one thing, and now exclude every other thought. Keep
the attention rigidly upon this particular subject as long as possible. The direction does
not mean that you are to follow a train of ideas upon the subject, but that you are to fasten
the mind keenly upon the one thing or idea and retain it in the field of attention, just as
you may look at some object, focusing sight and observation there, and there alone. Rest.
Repeat six times. Make record. Continue every day for ten days, with rest. Then note
improvement in power.

Exercise No. 3.
Permit the mind to wander whither it will one minute. Now write out all that you recall of
these wandering thoughts. Then proceed to find and indicate in writing the connections
that bind them into a chain. You will thus discover that mental activities may become
aimless, but that the mind's roaming is not without explanation. Resolve to keep your
thoughts well in hand. Repeat these exercises six times, and continue for ten days, with
rest. On the tenth day compare records and note improvement in attention. Try, now, to
discover any general laws that have governed the mind's uncontrolled action.
Exercise No. 4.
Sit at ease for one minute while thinking of the mind as engaged in reasoning. Do not
entertain fancies. Keep out wandering thoughts and sensations. Do not reason; think of
the reasoning power of the mind. Now deliberately pursue some definite line of reasoning
for, say, five minutes. Write results, from memory. Rest. Repeat six times. Continue for
ten days, with rest. On the tenth day compare records and note improvement in
concentration.
Repeat these exercises with the imagination, thinking a picture or plot of acting.
Repeat with the power of Will, imagined as to various acts.
Exercise No. 5.
Summons a resolute state of mind. Now select some desired goal in life which you
believe to be possible, and will, with all your might, that this shall be. Do not think of
means. Fiercely resolve to overcome all difficulties. Do not dwell upon the enjoyment of
success, for that will distract the mind. Attend wholly to the Mood of willing. Repeat six
times. Continue at least ten days, with rest. Bed the idea of the goal deeply in mind. Carry
it with you into life's activities. Make the resolution a permanent matter, not only of Will,
but of feeling as well.
Exercise No. 6.
Sit at ease a few seconds. Now think of several acts, as, to walk across the room, or to
take a book from a shelf, or to sit still. Continue about five minutes. Various impulses
will arise to do one thing or another. Resist them all a little time. Now decide, quickly
and resolutely, what you will do. Do not act lazily; do not decide impulsively. Force a
real decision. Then act. Do exactly that one thing. Rest. Repeat six times, with different
actions. During each act, put the Will into every part thereof. Keep to the fore a strong
personal Mood. Continue for ten days, with rest. At the end of the period, note
improvement in attention and power of Will.

Exercise No. 7.
Set apart by themselves several small objects; books, coins, paper, knives, etc. Collect a
miscellaneous lot. Now, after looking these articles over, decide to arrange them in some
particular way according to a determined order of relations. The order may be that of
similarity, or difference, and the like. Example: the objects are of many colors; arrange in
a complementary way. Now note the general effect. It is probably bad. Why is this? How
can the arrangement be improved? Has color anything to do with the arrangement of the
furniture of your room? Can it be set into better order in this respect? Try that. Repeat
with order according to other resemblances. Repeat with order according to differences.
Always keep the Mood of Will in the foreground during these exercises. Arrange with a
different order six times in each exercise. Continue for ten days, with rest. At the end of
the period, observe improvement in attention, together with facility in making the
arrangements.
Exercise No. 8.
Select several like objects, say, books or articles of furniture. Now arrange the books
according to titles. Is this the best possible arrangement? Try to improve it. Arrange the
furniture for finest effect in the room, having color, shape, style, etc., in mind. Repeat
with other similar articles. With each set of objects make six different arrangements.
Continue for ten days, with rest. Then note improvement as before.
Exercise No. 9.
Select several dissimilar objects. Lay them out conveniently before you. Take one of
them in hand. What does it suggest? Connect that suggestion immediately, that is,
without any intermediate idea, with another article. What does this suggest? Connect the
suggestion with a third article. Continue in this way until all the objects have been
connected. Place the articles, one after another, according to connecting suggestions,
before you. Do everything slowly, deliberately and with a strong sense of willing. Rest
after the first complete experiment a few seconds. Then repeat with different articles six
times. Continue for ten days, with rest, and then note improvement in attention and
facility of connections made.
Here is an example: Book -- (suggesting) - Person -- (suggesting) - Note - (suggesting) Writer - (suggesting) - Pen - (suggesting) - Mightier -(suggesting) - Sword - (suggesting)
- Sharp --(suggesting) - Knife - (suggesting) - Point - (suggesting) - Pin - (suggesting) Bright - (suggesting) - Gold Watch.
The above exercises are somewhat difficult, and their practice will require patience and
time. But the value of such work will appear when we remember "that the act of
voluntary attention involves a conscious effort of the soul." It is the "conscious effort"
that this book seeks to develop. And for two reasons: first, that the reader may acquire the
habit of carrying with him everywhere the Will pervaded Mood of the strong personality,

secondly, that adequate power of attending to motives may become a permanent factor of
his life.
Read, therefore, the following with greatest care:
"Variations in the relative strength of motives mainly arise from the degree of attention
that we give to them respectively." People often act wrongly or unwisely because they
fail here. "Thus, for example, a hungry man, seeing bread in a baker's window, is tempted
to break the glass and steal a loaf of bread. The motive here is the prospect of satisfying
his hunger. But the man is not a mere machine, impelled by a single force. He knows that
if he is caught, he will be punished as a thief. He knows, too, that this is a wrong act
which he is considering, and that his conscience will reprove him. Now he can fix his
attention upon one of these restraining motives. The impulse to break the glass thus loses
its power. The element of time is an important factor, for the longer he delays and
deliberates, the more numerous will be the restraining motives which arise in his
consciousness."
But avoidance of crime is a very small part of most people's lives. For the majority, "
How to get on in all good ways," is a comprehensive, and the ruling, question. The value
of attention obtains here in ways similar to those above suggested. A strong Will is
demanded. Ability to hold the mind to one thing is imperative. Power of concentrating
thought upon motives, and the best motives, is called for every day of our existence. The
great symbol of all our exercises, therefore, is Attention!
ATTENTION
"From what has already been said, it can be inferred that tenacious attention is one of the
strongest factors in a cultivated will. Some modern psychologists insist that attention is
the only power of the will.
"The man who can hold uninteresting ideas before his mind until they gather interest, is
the man who is going to succeed.
A Focused Soul Fears Nothing
"The only way to cultivate attention is by a continuous effort of will. If the attention
wanders from any subject for ninety nine consecutive times, bring the attention back
ninety nine consecutive times. Make an effort to concentrate the mental powers each
time. A habit of attention will surely grow in this way. "It is hardly possible to over
estimate the importance of tenacious attention. A man with half the natural ability of
some geniuses often accomplishes far more, because he keeps his attention undivided on
one thing until he has mastered it."
Here is an open secret of big, shrewd, notable men in the professional and financial marts
of today, close, concentrated, calm minded attention. It does not require a tightfisted,

muscle tensed, set condition of body but rather a ONE AIM held closely in mind with
distracting outside sensations excluded.
But the words which we have so often met in the preceding pages indicate the ultimate
and priceless goal:
"I RESOLVE TO WILL! THE MOOD OF EMPHATIC PERSONALITY IS MINE
!"

Attention in Reading

A distinguished lawyer of an Eastern city relates that while engaged in an argument upon
which vast issues depended he suddenly realized that he had forgotten to guard a most
important point. In that hour of excitement his faculties became greatly stimulated.
Decisions, authorities and precedents long since forgotten began to return to his mind.
Dimly outlined at first, they slowly grew plain, until at length he read them with perfect
distinctness. Mr. Beecher had a similar experience when he fronted the mob in Liverpool.
He said that all events, arguments and appeals that he had ever heard or read or written
passed before his mind as oratorical weapons, and standing there he had but to reach forth
his hand and seize the weapons as they went smoking by." - Newell Dwight Hillis.
THEORY OF CHAPTER
Concentrated attention, the price of understanding;
Exhaustive understanding the only true reading;
Review and discussion the storing methods of memory;
These exercises, deliberately and persistently followed, sure developers of the scholar's
Will.
PRELIMINARY
There is at once too much reading and too little. The great modern dailies are harming the
minds of metropolitan peoples. Multitudes read from sheer mental laziness. Journalism
must therefore be sensational in an evil manner. Even magazine literature scours worlds
for fresh chaff illustrated by "lightning artists." These influences, and the infinite flood of
matter, make genuine reading among many impossible. For reading, in its real sense, is a
deliberate process by which written thought is transferred to the mind, and there stored
and assimilated. All this involves power of Will. But power of Will is a rare possession in
these days of multitudinous distractions. Hence it is that true reading is almost a lost art.
How shall this lost art be regained? By development of that reason forged, but magic gift,
Attention.
"Read not to contradict nor to believe, but to weigh and consider," said the wise and "
woodeny" Bacon. " To weigh and consider", that is the open sesame of right reading. In
order to acquire these abilities the following directions will serve:

Attention in Reading
REGIMES
Exercise No. 1.
Procure any well-written book on any subject worth knowing. Read the title with great
care. State in your own language exactly what you suppose the title to mean. Look up the
definitions of all words. Examples: "History of the United States." What is history? What
is a written history? What is the difference between the two kinds of "history"? What is
the main idea in "United States"? How did this name originate ?
Now read the author's name. Before proceeding further, memorize an outline of his life.
Ascertain his place in letters. What value are you to put upon his work?
This done, read with some care the table of contents. You ought now to have the general
drift of the book, together with its purpose. If these do not appear, take another book and
repeat the above exercises. Continue this exercise during life.
Exercise No. 2.
Presuming that, with such examination, you wish to go on, read the preface very
carefully. Having finished it, ask yourself what the author has here said. Make sure that
you know. Then ask; Why has he said this in the preface? Did he need a preface? Does
this preface really preface, so far as you can now judge? Make this a permanent regime in
reading.
Exercise No. 3.
If the book has an introduction, read that with the greatest attention. An author is
sometimes misunderstood in many pages because his introduction has not been read. At
the end of its reading, outline from memory what it has brought before you. Now ask,
again, Why should he have written that introduction, or what he has written here as an
introduction? Very likely, you are at this time as ready to lay the book aside as you may
become later. Make this exercise a permanent part of serious reading.
Exercise No. 4.
To make sure about this, read attentively the first twenty five pages of the book. In these
pages do you see anything new, anything interesting, anything of value to you? If nothing
new, interesting or valuable gets to the fore in twenty five pages, you are probably ready
to sell that book at a large discount. The rule, however, is not infallible.
Reading is frequently like gold mining: the richest veins are not always readily
discovered. Some of George Eliot's works require a yoke of oxen, so to speak, to drag the
mind into them; but once in, it cannot escape her spell. Many books which are

perennially acknowledged cannot be rigidly subjected to these tests. Something too,

depends upon the reader's mind. If the mind "adores" "awfully sweet" dresses and
"perfectly elegant" parties, its judgments may be taken with a " lot" of " just the tiniest"
allowance. These directions are not dealing with the "punk" order of intellect, nor the
"green corn" era of criticism. They have in view the ordinary run of minds and the above
average grade of books. If twenty five pages of a book do not get hold of a good mind,
the author has done phenomenally fine work, or else he isn't worth reading. Make this
exercise permanent.
Exercise No. 5.
Supposing, now, that you resolve to go on with the volume in hand, it will be necessary,
for our present purpose, to return to the first sentence. Read that sentence with exceeding
care. What is its subject, its predicate, its object? What is the meaning of each word? If an
abstract thought, put this thought into your own language. Think it, resolutely and
carefully and clearly. If it is an object thought, stop now and, closing the eyes, call up a
mental picture of the object. If the word expresses action, ask what kind of action. Think
the act so as to get a mental picture of it, if possible. If the sentence is involved, take as
much of it as expresses a complete thought exhausted by ideas of "being," or "condition,"
or "action." Treat this as your first sentence according to the above directions. Then
proceed with the next complete thought of the sentence, and so on until you have in this
manner read the sentence as a whole. Then read the sentence again, put the thoughts
together, and get into the mind a complete view of the entire statement. Always translate
the author's thoughts into your own language. Do not memorize, but THINK.
Proceed in this way through the first paragraph. Then state in your own manner the
connected chain of thought thus far presented. The next day, write, without reading again,
the substance of this first paragraph.
Continue such attentive and analytic reading until you have mastered the first chapter.
Now put aside all writings hitherto made, and from memory write a connected statement
of the substance of that chapter.
Proceed with the succeeding sentences, paragraphs and chapters. If these directions are
pursued, few books will require a second reading. And one good book well read is better
than a dozen read as books ordinarily are read.
Resolve permanently upon this kind of reading. Such exercises will prove of immense
value, because they are based on certain laws of mind. The eye acquires great facility in
reading, and the reader is apt to content himself with whole but vague pictures of groups
of ideas presented. In order that the thought contained in the printed page may be really
obtained, it is necessary to break up these wholes and to put their parts into clear light.
This requires attention to details, which in turn demands a distinct understanding of the
meaning of words. We may catch the general thought of a sentence without knowing
clearly what some of its words mean, and thus really miss, perhaps, the best part of our
reading.

"Suppose I 'look out of my window," says Mill in "Elements of Psychology," "and see a
black horse running swiftly. The whole picture, as presented by the sense of vision,
constitutes one single image. It remains one and single until I have occasion to describe it
in words. The moment I attempt to do so, an analytic process or process of resolution into
parts is necessary. I must name the animal 'horse,' his color 'black,' his act 'running,' his
speed 'swiftly,' and I must indicate whether it is a definite or an indefinite black horse that
runs, and so must use an article, 'a' or 'the.' Putting all together, I say 'A black horse is
running swiftly,' a sentence in which my one visual image is broken up by five
distinctions, each expressed in a separate word. There is truth in the proverb, 'No one
knows a thing until he can tell it.'
The object of putting thought into one's own words is also seen in the fact that the mere
study of words, as the above writer indicates, is of little value. Hence in real reading it is
always necessary to secure mental images, or mental conceptions clear cut and
pronounced, of "being," "condition" or "action" involved in each statement read.
Exercise No. 6.
While reading any book worth the while, mark striking or useful passages, and, as you
proceed, make an index on the rear fly leaf. No matter if the book has a printed index;
your own will prove better for your purpose.
Exercise No. 7.
Analyze chapters, about as you go on, and mark and number or letter the points made. At
the close of reading the chapter, review these points and fix in memory. This facilitates
Exercise No. 5.
Exercise No. 8.
While some friend reads aloud, practice mental noting of the points made by the author,
retaining them for a given number of pages. Then state them consecutively while the
reader reviews to correct your errors. Continue this exercise indefinitely.
Exercise No. 9.
Repeat the above exercise with conversations with the reader, making sure that both
thoroughly understand the matter in hand. On the following day, review this work
together from memory. Then continue as before. Practice these exercises indefinitely.
Exercise No. 10.
If an author's name is not a sufficient guaranty for his statements, or if his book is written
from an evident point of view or with a possible bias, and he is clearly bent on "making
his case," bring to the reading of his work the interrogative attitude of mind. Do not
accept him carelessly. Compel him to "make his case" fairly. Verify his alleged facts. See

that his references are correct and rightly interpreted. Detect flaws in his arguments. Read
him from his point of view as modified by your own. Make sure that your point of view
is good. Therefore, be open to his convictions. Nevertheless, antagonize him in a fair
field. Be not hasty to contradict, nor to surrender.
Tomorrow what you deny may be truth, what you accept may be false. Read resolutely to
gather what he can contribute to your stock of facts, of realities, of sound reasoning, of
sentiment, of life, of power.
In connection with the foregoing instructions on attention in reading, certain parts of
Bacon's essay "On Studies" will be of interest :
Attention is Reading
"Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in
privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment
and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars,
one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and the marshalling of affairs, come
best from those who are learned. Crafty men condemn studies; simple men admire them;
and wise men use them. Read not to contradict and confuse; nor to believe and take for
granted; nor to find fault and discourage, but to weigh and consider. Histories make men
wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic
and rhetoric able to contend.
"Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And
therefore, if a man write little he had need have a great memory if he confer little, he had
need have a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to
know that he doth not."
Beware what Den Janson called a "humor"
"A Humour is the bias of the mind,
By which, with violence, 'tis one way inclined;
It makes our action lean on one side still;
And, in all changes, that way bends the Will."
The work here suggested will be tedious at first, and it demands time and patience. As it
proceeds, however, it will become more and more easy and delightful. Its justification is
the double purpose in hand in all these pages: right reading and power of persistent Will.
A resolute sense of willing must therefore be preserved from first to last. Learn to read in
the Mood of the emphatic personality. Your Will shall then dissolve books, and mastered
books shall culture the finest Will.

Attention in Thinking

Something more reliable than a mere impulse is needed to make a strong mind. Back of
all must stand a strong Will, with the ability and disposition to use it. M.I. Marcel well
says, 'The great secret of education lies in exciting and directing the Will.' In later mental
acquirements we recognize the omnipotence of Will. Nothing takes its place until we
discover that attention is under the control of the Will, and until, by perseverance, we
acquire the power of thus controlling it." - Popular Science Monthly.
THEORY of CHAPTER
True thinking is a deliberative act of mind held fast to its task;
Such impelled action discovers the best use of mind, and develops and stores the whole
man;
The mind thus improved throws itself into its operations with greater wisdom and
increased energy;
This action unfolds the Will.
The best thinker is the best reader. This is true even of "reciters," so far as their work is
concerned. To recite, one must interpret; to interpret one must think. Thinking, in its
noblest sense, is largely a lost art among the people. They indulge in a vast deal of mental
jargon, but genuine thought seems a scarce article. A single "straw " is the fact that new
matter presented in the simplest language is often declared to be "too deep for us." The
difficulty is not depth, but unfamiliarity; the limits of popular thinking are narrow;
outside these limits, even sunlight is opaque, and diamonds are mere quartz pebbles.
People "think," as they say, to be sure, concerning homes, business, politics, social and
state affairs, together with a smattering of religion; but in an elevated way, this "thinking"
is a good deal like the "thinking" of animals; vague, unconscious as thought, forced,
disjointed, spasmodic, haphazard. Few seem to think out a great reality, build up a
consistent theory, or elaborate a reasonable system. We have not here, altogether, it must
be said, the pressure of dirt and moil. It is a case of mental laziness. One must work with
muscles in order to exist; but one need not labor with the mind for assimilation of food
and development of brawn. Housekeepers and shop tenders aver a great amount of
thinking, "real and wearisome"; but we have here very largely the mechanics of mental
routine. The world is flooded with "literature "every day, and the most of its readers relax
in its enervating tide. Evidence: few "get on." Few discover themselves and the universe
about them, infinite globe of dynamic influences for the elevation of the human soul.

Attention in Thinking
PRELIMINARY
Nothing affords greater satisfaction than to mine into a fact or truth and ramify its various
connections. Here is a process that is keenest tonic, a result of which is bank of deposit
paying compound interest.
The ability to think clean through a subject puts a man apart as one of the victors of life.
This power may be developed. Whenever it is taken in hand, resolutely and persistently,
one of its hugest products is a giant Will.
But remember, true thinking depends upon:
Attention,
Knowledge,
Memory,
Correct Perception of Relations.
The swiftness and value of the process will depend upon the determined attitude brought
into it by the soul. According to your Will, so be it unto you. In the last analysis, faith is
Will shouting, "I will not let thee go! "
It is a mistake to suppose that one must be versed in all the rules of logic in order to
become a good thinker. The mastery of logic is vastly helpful, to be sure; but after all, it
is thinking that has produced logic, rather than logic thinking. A persistent effort to think
correctly will in time develop a fair logical system, though its possessor may not be
aware of the fact.
Be it remembered that good thinking may, and it may not, coincide with common sense.
"Common sense is the exercise of the judgment unaided by art or system." Its only
teacher is experience; but the lessons of experience seldom repeat themselves, the last has
always some new element. The application of common sense is, therefore, a matter of
inference, of reasoning.
The best thinker ought to possess the greatest common sense.
Practiced thinking rather than common sense, governs the physician, the lawyer, the
sailor, the engineer, the farmer, the business man, the statesman though these must bring
common sense to bear in thinking. When so done it is distinctly thinking. The power to
think, consecutively and deeply and clearly, is an avowed and deadly enemy to mistakes
and blunders, superstitions, unscientific theories, irrational beliefs, unbridled enthusiasm,
crankiness, fanaticism.

All Values Yield to Concentration

The lack of thought power creates financial panics and ruins business, unsettles politics
and government, keeps the masses down, makes the rich intolerant and unwise, and
renders religion non-progressive.
He who cannot think cannot will, in the highest sense.
He who cannot will strongly, cannot think long or deeply.
All labor in thought involves a measuring capacity for willing.
All willed thinking develops Will.
REGIMES
Exercise No. 1.
Take now, any simple and great truth. Concentrate attention upon this truth, absolutely
excluding every other thought. Example "Man is immortal." Think of man as immortal
only. Think of man in every conceivable way as being immortal. Man is body; what is
body? Is body immortal? Is the body immortal? If not, in either case, why not? If so, in
either case, why? And in what sense? Man has mind; what is mind? Is it immortal? If so,
what in mind is immortal? Why do you believe as you do? If mind is immortal, for what
purpose? Man, again, has moral consciousness. What is this? Is this immortal? In what
sense? What in moral consciousness is immortal? Why do you so believe? For what
purpose is man, as moral consciousness, immortal?
Now think of immortality. What is it? Think of immortality in every conceivable way as
connected with man. How does it concern him? Has it various supposable or believable
states in relation to him? Where is he, as you suppose, in immortality? What is he,
according to your idea, to become in immortality? What is he to take with him at death?
With whom is he to exist hereafter? What is he to do? What relation have his present
states to any believable states of his future life? How does he get his idea of immortality'
What purpose does the idea serve in his life? In your life? Why should man be immortal?
When thinking of man, always keep in mind the idea "immortal," and when thinking of
immortality, always keep in mind the idea "man."
The above is merely an example. These exercises should be repeated every day, with a
different sentence or thought, indefinitely. It will be well also to preserve dated records,
and to make frequent comparisons in order to discover improvement in analysis, attention
and power of persistent thought upon a single subject. In six months, profit and pleasure
will be apparent. You will surely find, as the main result of a faithful compliance with all
suggestions, a tremendous power of straightforward Will action. There can be no failure
with resolute practice.

Exercise No. 2.
Take any simple matter of observation or experience. You are riding, let us suppose,
along a country road. Now look well at the landscape. You pronounce it beautiful. But
what is the beautiful? Think that question to an answer. Now bury your mind in deepest
thought concerning the landscape before you.
The landscape, "what is a landscape?" Think that subject out carefully and distinctly.
Proceeding, ask, "What is this landscape?" Observe the general outlines and salient
features. What is there about the larger details which makes them beautiful? Observe the
minor details. What is their beauty? How do they contribute to the beauty of the whole?
How might this landscape be improved in beauty? How would this or that change add to
the effect of the beautiful? Have you discovered all elements before you of a beautiful
nature?
When you next ride over the road, remember that question. Are you familiar with this
country? Was it ever more beautiful than it is today? Do other people declare it to be
beautiful? If not, why not, in your opinion? Ah? But are you certain that your ideas of the
beautiful are correct? Do you think that the elements of this landscape appeal in the same
way to others who pronounce it beautiful as they appeal to you? Do you suppose that they
observe just the, same colors, outlines, proportions, contrasts and blendings as yourself?
Do you believe that the same feelings, thoughts, moods and desires are awakened in their
minds by this landscape as in your own?
By such a process you may become absorbed in a deliberate and controlled train of
thought. Have a care that your horse doesn't go over the ditch. If you have followed these
directions, you have had experience in perfect concentration. Concentration is the secret
of great thinking.
This exercise should be varied at every attempt. with different subjects, as opportunity
may present. It must be continued six months at least, and practiced in some suggested
way every day.
Exercise No. 3.
Take any simple sentence, say, "Success in life depends upon nobility of purpose and
persistence of effort." Write the sentence out in full. Now strip the statement to a mere
skeleton: "Success - depends - purpose - effort." Think clearly the meaning of each word.
Then imagine the modifying words placed just above these. The sentence will read
" Life -- nobility -- persistence." Success -- depends -- purpose -- effort."
You have now two skeletons which may be filled out at your liking, almost, and yet give
you the same idea in essentials. "The value of life consists in its nobility and its
persistence." This sentence suggests the meaning of true success. That is not success
which has no nobility or persistence. So, the lower skeleton may he filled out to read:

"The quality of success depends upon the quality and abiding nature of its purpose and its
effort." Low purpose and effort, low grade of success. Thus, the "value of life consists in
its nobility of purpose and its persistence of effort." Continue this exercise with different
sentences for six months.
Exercise No. 4.
Write the sentence used in the preceding exercise, as an example. "Success in life
depends upon nobility of purpose and persistence of effort." Now ask the first part of this
sentence closing with "purpose," a series of questions in which the words "how," "why,"
"which," "when," "where," "whose," are employed. "How does success depend upon
nobility of purpose?" "Why does success in life depend upon nobility of purpose?" "What
success depends upon nobility of purpose?" "Where does success depend upon nobility of
purpose?" And so on until all the words are used. Write each answer in full. Then
substitute "persistence of effort" for "nobility of purpose," and bombard the statement
again with the same questions. Write each answer in the latter case in full. Then ask the
entire sentence a question containing the word "whose." Finally, note carefully all that
you have written upon the statement, arrange in logical form, and proceed to write a
simple essay with the material thus gathered. You will find this to be an excellent way in
which to bore into any subject. Continue six months, at least.
This is merely an example, and it is not a very full one. Every word and proposition of a
sentence or subject thus may be compelled to give up its contents. In time, too, the mind
will have acquired great facility and power in such analysis, so that whatever of value is
read will come to offer its secrets to you almost as a free gift. This alone is worth all labor
expended upon the exercise.
Exercise No. 5.
The results of attention and concentration will very nearly approach composition. Every
one who thinks can write, at least after a fashion. Writing is one of the best of aids to
thinking. When you attempt to write, you discover, very likely, that what you supposed
you knew has been apprehended in the vaguest manner.
Take, therefore, any object, fact, truth, law or proposition. Example: the law or force of
gravitation. Now ask as many questions as possible concerning this Fact. Bombard it with
"what," "whose," "why," "where," "when," "how," "with what conditions," "how long,"
and the like.
Thus: what is it? whose is it? where is it? when is it? how is it? etc., until you have
exhausted your power of thought upon it. Turn it about. Look at it from every side.
Examine it under all conditions. Find its nature, its operation, its source, its purpose, its
bearing upon other natural forces. Ravel it out. Tear it into pieces.
Write all answers in full. Then proceed to arrange all answers in groups after some
logical order. Now read the material thus arranged, and you will discover new thought

springing up, which will necessitate a rearrangement. Write this in full. Then fill out your
synopsis in the best manner possible. Continue this exercise frequently for six months.
Meanwhile, study the cleanest and clearest writers for details of expression and
correctness of statement and form. Review your work occasionally, and note
improvement, both in composition and ability to get into a subject. Keep the ideal of
straightforward simplicity always in mind. Declare war upon superlatives, and reduce
your adjectives two thirds. In all cases use the fewest words consistent with clear
statements and full expression.
Exercise No. 6.
Proceed as in former exercise to completion of synopsis. Now think this out, fully and
clearly, as written. Memorize the thoughts, but never the words, section by section, taking
several days if necessary, until the entire subject lies in your mind ready to be spoken or
written in full. In doing this, you must think in words. Let the purpose in mind be to
speak the thoughts as if to an audience.
When you are master of the subject, speak all your thoughts in order to an imaginary
gathering of people. Have the audience before you. Be in earnest. Get excited. Over the
law of gravity? Certainly. Over anything under the heavens! Make gestures. Fear nothing.
Never mind mistakes. Be keenly alive to this piece of work. Forget every other reality in
the world. You believe certain things in connection with the law; deliver your soul on that
matter as if to an audience of people who never have heard of it or do not think as you do.
This exercise should be continued for many months. A few moments devoted to it each
day will prove of incalculable value. Almost any real subject will answer for a topic.
Business, Politics, Farming, Magazines. After some experience, it will be well to avoid
general topic and to select those of a narrower range, as, The Tides, The Party, The
Raising of Celery, The Liquefaction of Air, etc.
Exercise No. 7.
Study unceasingly to detect errors in your own thinking. Are your main propositions
correct? Do you employ right words in stating them? Are the conclusions really
deducible from your propositions? Why do you believe certain things? Are they based on
actual facts? Are the facts sufficiently numerous to form a basis for belief? Are you
biased in examination of facts? Do you think as you do because of desire, or ignorance,
or prejudice? Make sure of your facts! Make sure that the facts prove one thing, and none
other!
Exercise No. 8.
Follow the above suggestions as to the thinking of other people. They are swearing by a
host of things which are not necessarily so. Do not become a bore, nor a judge. But make
sure that arguments actually prove matters as asserted.

This chapter may well close with a quotation, taken from the author's published work,
"The Culture of Courage," concerning mental health.
"When the mental attitude concerns truth, the mind is sanely intelligent, and, in the long
run, will exhibit reasonableness." Any illustration of the attitude will be more or less
incomplete, because the process unfolded uncovers so much of life. It should, therefore,
be remembered that the following are merely specimen leaves from the vast forest of
experience.
Attention in Thinking
Illustration No. 1.
A man sees a ghost in the highway. Our invitation requires that he see the fact as it is. It
is some fact; what is that fact? It is a tall stump with two or three naked branches, various
lights and shadows moving upon them. The fact thing has now become a fact group.
It is an appearance, a fact suggesting a supposed truth. What was the real truth? The
ghostly body was a stump, the arms were branches, the movements were due to flickering
shadows and varying degrees of light. The supposed truth was a ghost. The real truth was
a mental deception; back of that a stump under certain conditions.
"Ten thousand applications are possible. I take one only cures of all sorts of disease
attributed to all sorts of remedies. We need not deny the cures; there are millions of cures,
blessed be Nature ! But is the agency of cure in any given case precisely what it is said to
be? Is this the ghost fact of Christian Science, Mental Healing, drugs, or prayer? All the
things named contain values for us. I simply suggest that when you attribute your cure to
one agency or an other, you strip all claims down to naked fact. That is the one sane test
of the question whether a thing is a ghost or a fact.
Illustration No. 2.
Witchcraft had its facts, its supposed truth, and its real truth. When men insisted on
seeing the real facts, many of the fictitious facts disappeared, the supposed truth
vanished, and the real truth awaited discovery. After science had adopted the above
methods, instead of the old shout, 'Superstition' contentment in which has hurt science
more than it has hurt any other department of our life, the backlying facts began to
emerge, and the truths, clairvoyance, clairaudience, hypnotism, fear, imagination, etc.,
etc,, came slowly into light. We are now trying to find out why science should say, 'all
bosh' to 'mesmerism,' 'occultism,' 'spiritualism', 'religion', or any other thing under the
heavens.
The conclusion is this: Make sure of the facts; get at the real truth; keep open house to
every proposition claiming to be real, but accept nothing not clearly demonstrated to sane
but inspired reason.

The purpose of these studies on attention in thinking is to train you to establish the habit
of knowing all sides of any question that confronts you; to observe all possibilities and
consequences attendant open your decision to "do this" or "do that." "Those who have not
early been trained to see all sides of a question are apt to be extremely narrow, and
undesirable to live with."
All Values Yield to Concentration
However, the ferreting out and discovering all possible phases of any matter before you is
but one part of the complete circle. Having "attended in thinking," and seeing the proper
course to pursue, then must be brought forward the great jewel of ACTION in the line of
best interest. "The world demands for success not only plenty of thought, but quickness
of thought. More than half the world thinks after it is too late."
Become accustomed to deep, attentive thinking.
Always try to "think all around a subject."
Try and do the required thinking before you go "into the game."
Once clear thinking is done, swiftly carry it into Action.
In every part of the work of this chapter, keep in mind the sentence. "I am conscious of
the sense of Will." You will not be distracted, but rather helped by that recollection.
ONLY WILL? ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT WILLS.

Exercises in Memory

I retain a clear impression or image of everything at which I have looked, although the
coloring of that impression is necessarily vivid in proportion to the degree of interest with
which the object was regarded. I find this faculty of much, use and solace to me. By its
aid I can live again at will in the midst of any scene or circumstance by which I have
been surrounded. By a voluntary act of mind I can in a moment conjure up the whole of
any one out of the innumerable scenes in which the slightest interest has at any time been
felt by me."- Dr. John Kitto.
THEORY OF CHAPTER
Review deepens mental impressions;
Storing of mind enlarges it, and gives it immense momentum;
The effort to secure mental force multiplies Will energy.
It was John Ruskin who said, "There are but two strong conquerors of the forgetfulness
of men, Poetry and Architecture." But Ruskin had the far outlook in mind. There is but
one strong conqueror of the personal forgetfulness, and that is the determined Will. The
poem and the cathedral preserve their age in the worlds memory; the resolute Will
preserves the individual's mind from becoming a sieve. The Rev. Dwight Hilllis once
remarked in a lecture, that he forgot with his memory. This was an old pleasantry. Men
forget at times because of the rush of thought forbidding the quick grasp of mind
necessary to the thing desired. But the real secret of forgetting lies in a vaporous
condition of Will.
PRELIMINARY
There is therefore but one "golden rule" for improvement of the memory. The "golden
rule" is the iron rule of political and intelligent exercise. The first requisite of memory
cultivation is attention, the second is found in the laws of memory. Memory depends
upon mental impressions, and these upon attention, understanding, similarity and
contrast, and Will. All elements of success here call primarily upon the latter.
Professor James has formulated the law: "Whether or no there be anything else in the
mind at the moment when we consciously will a certain act, a mental conception made up
of memory images of these sensations, defining which special act it is, must be there."
The secret of the will is anticipation based on memory.

Exercises in Memory
Not to refine unduly, it may be said that the power to remember is measured by the
ability to attend. Joy, pain, and the like are easily recalled because they greatly impress
the mind ; to secure an equally adequate degree of attention in regard to other matters
demands that the soul set itself about the task of deepening its own impressions. Hence
we may say, speaking broadly, to attend is to will; to will is to attend.
"All determinate recollection," as remarked by Dr. Carpenter, " involve the exercise of
volitional control over the direction of the thoughts."
REGIMES
Exercise No. 1.
Select the best specimen of condensed and simple English that you can find. Read a
paragraph carefully. Begin to read again, defining to yourself every word. If you are in
the slightest doubt, consult a dictionary. Go hungry a month to possess a first-class
dictionary. After satisfying yourself that you understand every word in the first sentence,
make sure that you understand the sentence as a whole. Now proceed, attentively and
with strong Will, to repeat the first few words, keeping words and thought in mind. Do
not repeat like a parrot, but think, resolving to remember the words and what they say.
Continue until you have memorized this part of the sentence. Then go on in the same
manner with the next few words. Fix these firmly in mind. Now recall all words and
thought thus far committed, and repeat, again and again, thinking the thought as you do
so with the utmost attention and energy. Proceed in this way until the entire sentence is
mastered.
It will be better not to try too many words at a time; you will easily ascertain the number
most convenient to your mind.
In this method, never for a moment forget to keep in mind the ideas presented by the
language. As words often represent different shades of meaning, will attention to the
shade here used. Let the work be done, with the utmost concentrated energy.
If you will repeat that sentence frequently during the day, wherever you chance to be,
always thoughtfully and determinedly, you will fasten it firmly in mind.
If you will repeat the same exercise with another sentence the following day, and
frequently repeat both sentences, the first will become more deeply impressed upon
memory, and the second will be acquired as fully, as was the first.
The value of repetition is not new. But the point of this exercise lies not so much in
repetition of words as in concentrated and continuous gripping of their thought. In all
repetition, therefore, study and master the ideas which they present.

It may be supposed that you are memorizing some brief poem or bit of prose. When it has
been acquired, you should frequently repeat it as a whole: say, once in several days, and
later, once during several weeks. In a comparatively short time it will have become
indelibly stamped upon the mind. Two or three times a year thereafter recall it. which
will preserve it from "drifting out" again.
Read originals now and then for correction of unconscious errors. If it is the thought that
you are mainly concerned about, use it as often as possible in conversation or writing;
work it over in your own material; you will thus work it thoroughly into your own mind.
This done, words and source are of little importance. Here is plagiarism defensible before
the gods. They, indeed practice it more than their worshipers.
Some books are not worth much labor. There are others which will amply repay a resolve
to master them. If you thoroughly master one small book during a year, as life and
reading go, you will do well. But there are few that should be verbally memorized. You
wish the contents rather than the words. These may be acquired in the following manner,
supposing the book is not largely technical, and to a degree, perhaps, if it is so:
Exercise No. 2.
First, know what the book treats. Now read a paragraph very carefully, making sure that
you understand every word and its thought as a whole. Then take the first complete
statement of fact or theory, whether involving one sentence or many, and think it out
aloud and in your own words. Read again, and restate the thought in different language
from that employed by the author or by yourself in the effort just indicated. Imagine that
you are speaking to some person; recite to him; compel him to listen; act as though trying
to teach him.
Seek opportunity to do the same with real people. Become, without ostentation, a walking
instructor. Don't be a bore, but resolve to become the most interesting converser among
your acquaintances. But remember, it is always the contents of that book which you are
trying to make your own property.
Exercises in Memory
In addition to the above, say to yourself frequently during the day: "This book affirms, at
such and such a place, so and so", stating where and what the matter is. Do this as often
as it may be convenient. When you make this effort of memory, think backward and
forward in the book from that point. At the close of the day, repeat all that you have thus
far mastered. Then read the book for correction of errors.
On the following day, repeat the same process with the next complete statement.
Continue as above until you have passed through an entire chapter.
Now, without reading, try to make in your mind alone a mere skeleton of the main
thoughts of the chapter. Then memorize the skeleton. The chapter may reduce to one or

two general statements, or it may involve a number of general together with subordinate
propositions. Make these in their order your own.
When the skeleton has been firmly fixed in mind, review from memory the series of
statements already thought out and memorized, and of which the skeleton is a reduction.
This will preserve the filling in of the synopsis. Thereafter, at convenient intervals,
proceed in a like manner, now to review the outline, now to recall the detailed
propositions.
Now proceed in the same way to the next chapter. Always think the written thoughts in
your own words. Repeat during each day all preceding thought statements of the chapter
in hand, as well as the one of that day. When the second chapter has been finished, think
out from memory a skeleton of its contents. Meanwhile, during the exercises with the
present chapter, occasionally recall the thought statements, in outline and in detail, of the
first chapter, looking well after their order. When the second chapter has been acquired,
think out occasionally a consecutive statement, of the contents of both chapters. Then
construct a new skeleton of all thoughts thus far presented, and memorize as an
everlasting possession. Continue until you have mastered the book.
In all this work, ignore whatever is not strictly essential to any sentence thought, or to any
statement paragraph. Such labor will tax your patience, but it will surely make you master
of your book, and will in time give you the greatest facility in reading. Ultimately the
mind may be depended upon to supply all necessary filling in, if the skeletons have been
well understood and thoroughly memorized. You will have acquired the ability, if your
author is worth reading, when you know his general propositions, to think the details
without further reading, unless the matter is technical or historical, or the like.
Exercise No. 3.
While passing slowly through a room, glance swiftly and attentively around. Then, in
another room, recall as many objects noted as may be possible. Do nothing languidly. Put
your entire energy into this exercise. Repeat every day for ten days, with rest of two days,
making a record of results. On the tenth day, compare records and note improvement
When on the street, note, as you pass along, all objects around you. Having passed a
block, recall as many objects as possible. Repeat frequently every day. Repeat during ten
days, with rest, and on the tenth day, note improvement.
Exercise No. 5.
Resolve with great Will power, when you retire, to awaken at a certain hour, and instantly
to arise. If you fail for a time, be not discouraged; persevere and your mind will surely
remember. But you must instantly arise at the appointed time, or your self will discover
that you do not really mean what you profess to will. Continue until you have acquired
the ability to awaken at any desired hour.

Exercise No. 6.
In the morning resolve to recall a certain thought at an exact hour. You must think
mightily on this resolution and fix it firmly in mind. Then dismiss it from immediate
thought and attend to other duties as usual. Do not try to keep it in mind. In time you will
obey your own order. You will probably fail at first, but perseverance will make you
master of appointments of this kind. The reflex influence in other matters will appear in
due time. Continue at least six months.
Exercise No. 7.
When you start for your school or place of business, intensely resolve to return by a
certain different route from that followed in going. Put your whole mind into this
determination. In time you will not fail to remember. Never by action contradict any of
these resolutions. Continue at least six months.
Exercise No. 8.
Walk or drive to your school or place of business, and return home, in as many different
and previously planned ways as possible. Never deviate from the plan. At the end of
each, arrange another for going and coming, and adhere to it as a matter of the utmost
importance. Continue at least six months.
Exercise No. 9.
At the beginning of each day make a plan for your general conduct until evening. Learn
to have an order for action. Be master of yourself. Having decided upon such plan for the
day, never, if possible to carry it out, vary its execution. Do not plan for more than one
day at a time, unless the nature of your doings requires it, and in this event, leave
particulars for each morning. Make your plans with care and strong Will, but do not
burden the mind with them in a way to interfere with details that spring up. Command
your mind to attend to the plan without forcing you to unnecessary strain of conscious
thought. It is always better to arrange for results, leaving minute details to be decided
according to demands of the moment. Continue six months.
Exercise No. 10.
At the close of each day carefully review your thoughts and doings since morning. What
have been your most valuable ideas? What your most emphatic sensations? What your
most important actions? Have you carried out your plans? If not, why not? How might
your thoughts, feelings and doings have been improved? What have been your motives?
Have they been wise and worthy? Resolve upon betterment the next day, and incorporate
this resolution into its plan. Continue this exercise indefinitely.
The preceding are suggestions only. They are based upon a law of the mind. If they
appear to be unnecessary and tedious, that may be an evidence of the indeterminate and

weak Will. It is a law, as remarked by Dr. James Sully, "that increase in the power of
foreseeing action tends to widen the area of resolution. Thus, so far as our daily actions
become ordered according to a plan, they all have a stage of resolution as their
antecedent. We habitually look forward to the succession of actions making up the
business, etc., of the day, and resolve to perform them in due order as circumstances
occur. And the subordination of action to ruling ends implies, as hinted above, a habitual
state of resolution, that is preparedness to act in certain ways in certain circumstances."
Exercise No. 11.
Make it a rule of life to learn some new and useful thing every day. Especially go outside
of your business for such information. This will test the Will and store the memory.
Exercise No. 12.
Frequently commit to memory lists of dates, and review often enough to hold in memory.
Make groupings of historic dates and commit to memory. Link each group as a group
with other groups from time to time. Frequently review.
Exercise No. 13.
Make lists of objects of public interest in your community, with skeletons of information
concerning them. Commit, and frequently review.
Exercise No. 14.
Commit and frequently review lists of names, as United States Presidents. English
Monarchs, United States Navy Vessels, etc.
Exercise No. 15.
Determine thoroughly to study some subject which lies outside your business. Keep at it.
Remember, growth of mind and Will!
Exercise No. 16.
Make the following a perpetual regime
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Never be content with any partial acquaintance with things.

Learn to refer items of knowledge to general principals.
Employ all aids suggested by any particular study.
Follow some natural or logical order in fixing facts, propositions, etc., in memory.
Cultivate attentive observation wherever you are placed.
Stand squarely and conscientiously on the side of truth.

MEMORY CHARACTERISTICS
"In a very general way," as remarked in "Business Power," a volume in the Power-Book
Library, " the mental characteristics in the matter of memory may be indicated by the
following analysis
Mind and memory especially occupied with objectively induced sensations.
Mind and memory especially given to emotions of pleasures and pains.
Mind and memory especially running to mental pictures.
Mind and memory especially good in the matter of dates and figures.
Mind and memory especially attentive to abstract ideas.
Mind and memory especially interested in principles.
Mind and memory especially elaborative of laws.
Mind and memory especially given to details.
Mind and memory especially given to construction of wholes.
"Now, all minds and memories of average intelligence possess all the characteristics thus
indicated in some decree, but none of us possesses them in any all round equal degree.
The type of mind is determined by the prevailing characteristic. Thus also with
memories. If your type of memory is shown above, and if you require improvement in
some one or more of the particular types portrayed, the method consists in persistent
attention and the formation of habits in the desired direction by constant practice and the
constant use of associations. You are urged especially to observe that the words:
Resolution -- Attention -- Persistence -- Repetition -- Association -- Habit, represent the
amount and kind of effort demanded.
Take, for example, the memory of details. Are you lacking in ability to recall in that
respect? You are urged to resolve on improvement, to attend to all details with all your
mind, to persist in such labor, to repeat the attention, to associate the details with
recollective 'signs' of any sort that you may invent, to form the habit of doing all this in
regard to details.
The trouble with people who forget is in part the fact that they fail to fore-get. In some
cases the fore getting is actual, but it is too easy and quick, for one thing, so that a good
rule will be found in this remark: 'My work really begins when I think it is finished.' With
most of us it is there that we close the work. In other words, when you are sure that you
have a thing, proceed to hammer it into mind, so to speak, for safe keeping.

But always should the fore getting be assimilated by association with something already
possessed in the mind. In the process of fore getting, repetition is also required because
this habituates the mind or the brain cells in certain ways so that accompanying mental
actions or associations are developed which assist in memory."
It is well to bear in mind that it is the art of observing which gathers the materials which
memory stores in mind. Speaking on this subject W. H. Groves says: "Robert Houdin and
Son immortalized themselves in legerdemain by the cultivation of the power of
observation. They did things which bordered on the miraculous because their eyes had
been trained to observe closely. They would pass through a room, or by a shop window,
and take a mental inventory of everything they saw, and then compare notes. At first they
observed only a few things, but finally they could see quickly and remember accurately
everything. "A splendid idea is to take a bird's eye view of a room and its articles. Then
shut your eyes and recall all you saw, the appearance and size of the room and articles,
their number, nature, color, the chairs, carpet, pictures, etc. At first you may not
remember accurately, but practice and perseverance will enable you to take in at a glance
everything you see.
"Enumerate at night the persons and things you have seen through the day. Thurlow
Weed made his mind 'wax to receive and marble to retain.' A man, who was a wonder,
studied a map of the place he was approaching in travel, then shut his eyes and recalled it.
He did this for about fifteen minutes, and had it clearly stamped in his memory."
All such exercises are of great value and should be practiced as time allows. Even when
on the street or in company you can be increasing your skill in remembering.
Always, in striving to cultivate the memory, call up and sustain the Mood of strong and
confident personality. Resolve: "I shall acquire a great memory for the purpose of
increasing the power of my Will."

Exercises In Imagination

Whenever a person wills, or, rather, professes to will, to imagine, he has in fact already
imagined; and, consequently, there can be no such thing as imaginations which are
exclusively the result of a direct act of the Will." -- Professor Upham.
"I am inclined to think it was his practice, when engaged in the composition of any work,
to excite his vein by the perusal of others on the same subject or plan, from which the
slightest hint caught by his imagination, as he read, was sufficient to kindle there such a
train of thought as, but for that spark (and that direction of the Will) had never been
awakened." -- Sir Thomas Moore, "Life of Lord Byron."
THEORY OF CHAPTER
The highest imagination involves all the powers of the mind;
Willed culture of imagination secures its greatest efficiency;
The steadfast application of imagination highly cultured to the concerns of life requires
the strongest and best regulated exercise of Will power;
That means the mighty Will developed all round.
"All the leaders in the world's life have been men of imagination."
It is in the action of the imagination that the question is presented, whether a man's life
shall be governed by the subconscious mind to take him where it may, or by the
conscious Will in control of that great servant. The imagination should be cultivated
because it has so important a place in all our affairs, but its cultivation should always
have reference to the sway of reason in conjunction with a reasonable Will. "The
subjective mind," well said Olston in "Mind Power and Privileges," "will feed upon, and
create, from the material given it by the Will. Schopenhauer said, 'My mind draws its
food from the medium of intelligence and thought; this nourishment gives body to my
work.' He, however, directed the course of his reading and thought to such things as
would bear upon his general theme."
Our task in imagination, then, involves not only action of Will, but as well education of
the deepest self in the interest of reason, judgment and right motives in life.
PRELIMINARY
Without dwelling upon the various kinds of imagination, as, the scientific, the
mathematical, the inventive, the philosophical, the artistic, it is to be observed that the
ethical imagination is by far the most important. The imaginative power is indispensable

to Will, because willing involves motives and consequences. and the mind requires
ability to see motives and consequences clearly, vividly, and in proper relation
Exercises of Imagination
"In action as in reasoning, the great thing is the quest of right conception."
Many persons will badly because they cannot perceive the full force of antagonizing
motives, and they possess small facility for calling up the possible outcomes of actions or
courses of conduct. Hence development of Will demands exercise in consideration of
desires, reasons and purposes and in fore picturing of consequences.
"It may be said in general," remarks Professor James, "that a great part of every
deliberation consists in the turning over of all the possible modes of conceiving the doing
or not doing the act in point."
REGIMES
Exercise No. 1.
We begin, first, with simple imaginary sensations. Recall a single rose, and imagine its
fragrance. Now place yourself in mind before a hill of roses, and imagine the air to be
heavy with their fragrance. What would be the effect upon yourself? What would you do
in such a case? Repeat this exercise with a drop of musk. Then think of a lake of musk.
Repeat with the notes of a songbird. Then imagine a forest full of birds, all singing.
These exercises should be conducted in a quiet room. Bring the Will to bear with great
power upon the work. Make the imagination as strong and distinct as possible. Repeat
until the imaginary sensations become as vivid as in life.
Exercise No. 2.
Stand by the side of some running stream, or near a waterfall, or in a factory in operation.
Now listen attentively to the sounds that assail your ears. There is one general
combination of sound. What is it like? What does it recall to memory? What mood does it
bring to your soul? After you have become familiar with the whole effect, proceed to
analyze it into as many different notes as you can detect. When you have done this
thoroughly, have separated the whole sound into its component parts, imagine clearly and
powerfully, a great volume of one of these sounds, making it as loud as possible; then
continue with another, and a third, and so on, until the general combination has been
exhausted.
Lastly, go away from a source of real sound to a quiet place, and recall, first the general
harmony, and then its individual sounds as previously analyzed. Continue until the
exercise may be carried on with perfect ease.

Exercise No. 3.
Recall to memory some distant and real landscape. The difficulty will consist in bringing
up the details, but these must be supplied. Resolute practice will accomplish the result
desired. By a supreme effort make the mental picture as real as life. In doing this you
should try to reinstate the soul's moods occasioned by the original scene. Place yourself,
in thought, on the exact spot where first you saw the landscape, and resolutely compel the
view to rise before you with as much of detail as possible. Keep the willful mood, and
continue with different landscapes until you can summon a vivid picture of real scenery
with the greatest ease.
Exercise No. 4.
Recall some experience which has made a lasting impression upon your memory. Pass
again in thought through its various phases, slowly, carefully, with great intensity of
feeling. Dwell upon its cause, its accessories, and its effect upon you at the time. Was the
effect pleasant or otherwise? In either case, state why. What influence had it upon your
subsequent life? Would you repeat it? If not, why not? If so, may it again be secured, and
how? May it be avoided in the future, and how? Continue with various experiences until
the lessons of caution and thoughtful self interest become permanent factors in your
mind.
Exercise No. 5.
In a quiet room, construct imaginary pictures, such as you have never seen: of a bird,
grotesque and unreal; of an animal, curious yet beautiful, or perfectly tame but horrible;
of a building, magnificent yet mysterious; of a landscape, weird and entrancing or wild
but not forbidding. Do not allow the mind to wander into reverie. You should preserve
the Will mood as strongly as possible. Continue until control of the imagination has been
secured.
Exercise No. 6.
Gaze at some large object, and try to discover in or about it a suggestion for the play of
imagination. It is a horse? Give it wings, and journey to a distant planet. It is a spool of
thread? Make it to be a spider's web wherewith to weave a thousand robes or with which
to send messages without unwinding by charging with intensest Will power as you
breathe upon it. Continue with other objects and various fanciful imaginings until Will is
master of imagination, to call up, to control or to banish.
Select a sentence from a standard author, which illustrates the celerity of a trained
imagination, and then will into the mind the complete picture suggested.

Exercise No. 7.
Thus, Lowell, in "A Moosehead Journal," writes: "Sometimes a root fence stretched up
its bleaching antlers, like the trophies of a giant hunter." The man who said this tells us
that "the divine faculty is to see what everybody can look at." The "divine faculty" of
"seeing" should be cultivated. And it may become an Aladdin's Lamp to him whose Will
is mighty. Try, now, to picture this root fence of Lowell's scene in such a way as to
suggest bleaching antlers. Why did the writer bleach the antlers? Why did he not see
them poised upon a row of deer-heads ?
Or, take another sentence from the same author "A string of five loons was flying back
and forth in long, irregular zigzags, uttering at intervals their wild, tremulous cry, which
always seems far away, like the last faint pulse of echo dying among the hills, and which
is one of those few sounds that, instead of disturbing solitude, only deepen and confirm
it." Now, if you have not heard the cry of the loon, try to imagine a sound which reminds
you of "the last faint pulse of echo dying among the hills." If you have heard these birds,
call up the scene and its impressions as vividly as possible. In either case, make the
present impression absolutely real. Keep the mind from wandering, holding it to the
mood suggested. Then resolutely banish scene and feeling.
Having ascertained what the imaginative element is in such sentences (you can find
similar everywhere), proceed to write some statement in which a like play of fancy is
obtained. Do not be discouraged. Throw yourself into the mood of imagination. Practice
this entire exercise persistently until you can with ease secure the mood and write a
sentence of imaginative beauty.
The old injunction, "Know thyself," is by most people sadly neglected. It is worth a deal
of labor to get acquainted with this "unknown land." Lowell writes that "a man should
have traveled thoroughly round himself and the great terra incognita just outside and
inside his own threshold, before he undertakes voyages of discovery to other worlds."
This is largely true even of mental voyages. "Who hath sailed about the world of his own
heart," quotes Lowell from Thomas Fuller, "sounded every creek, surveyed each corner,
but that still there remains much 'terra incognita' to himself ?"
It would be well if, before trying to read, we could learn how to read; before trying to
study, we could learn how to study. These exercises, therefore, have in view the
cultivation of one of the greatest of human faculties. They deal with simple matters
because this would seem to be best, and they aim at suggestiveness only; but if they are
faithfully followed they will result in a developed imagination and, which is particularly
to the point here, an increased power of Will of the greatest value in practical life.
Continue these exercises indefinitely.
Exercise No. 8.
Examine a machine of not very complex construction, Know its purpose. Understand all
its parts and their mutual relations. When you have thoroughly analyzed the mechanism,

close your eyes and summons it before the mind. Persist in this endeavor until you are
able to form a vivid mental picture of the whole. Then mentally take it to pieces. Then
mentally put the parts together. Now try to suggest some improvement by which some of
the parts may be omitted, or by which parts may be better adjusted, or by which the
machine may be made to accomplish better or less expensive work. Continue this
exercise with various mechanisms until you are able to see into machinery, can call up to
mind its inner construction, and can with ease form mental pictures of its wholes and its
parts.
Exercise No. 9.
Think of some matter in your life or home or place of business where a simple device or
mechanism would prove valuable by a saving of time or money. The opportunity being
found, proceed to think out a suitable arrangement for the purpose. Do not become
absorbed in this effort to the injury of other interests. The object here is not to make
inventors, but to develop power of imagination in order that motives of Will and
consequences of action may be clearly perceived. Make this exercise, therefore, a study
to such end. Above all, keep a strong sense of Will thoroughly in mind. Continue until
you have acquired facility in the constructive imagination.
Exercise No. 10.
Recall one of your great mistakes in life, review carefully, intensely, the various motives
which appealed to you at that time. Think over their relations, their force, their
persistence. Judge candidly whether you deliberated sufficiently before acting.
Remember distinctly that you did not give all motives or reasons an adequate hearing.
Acknowledge exactly why you yielded to some motives and rejected others. Bring all
these matters before your mind with the vividness of a present experience. Then review
all the consequences of your then choice. In what respect do you now see that you ought
to have proceeded differently? Had you so done, what would probably have been the
outcome? Suppose you were now to be put back into the former circumstances. How
would you decide with present knowledge? To avoid a similar mistake in the future, you
must then do what you have failed to do, namely, deliberate carefully, summon all
motives into court, hear each plea, give to all adequate consideration and weight, and
vividly foresee all consequences of choice as far as possible.
The present exercise is designed to assist you to these desired ends. Continue such review
work, until you have called up for examination all mistakes which you can remember.
Meanwhile mightily resolve to fore-fend the future by giving every important matter
utmost careful attention.
Exercise No. 11.
Recall to memory some very attractive bit of landscape observed in your travels. Let us
say it is a great piece of woods seen in autumn. Picture this scene to the soul: the
undulating ground, covered with fallen leaves and dotted by occasional clumps of bushes;

the many colors of the foliage still crowning the trees, whose numberless trunks lift into
the canopy above and afford sunlit vistas in every direction; the play of the winds upon
the gleaming leaves, fallen and drooping and still clinging; the vast quiet which broods
over all, save when broken by the sighing of the breeze or the call of birds from the open;
the swiftly moving stealth of squirrels along the ground or among the branches; and the
strange and pleasurable moods suggested when you stood there in nature's haunt of
beauty.
Now invent reflections in connection with this scene. Proceed first, by the law of
similarity. Of what does it remind you? You are to make the scene you have imagined the
basis and cause of other scenes similar in one or more respects and you are deliberately to
analyze the suggestion, the two scenes by comparison and the moods of thought
occasioned by both, with reasons for the same. Do not fall into reverie. This is downright
work. Its value depends altogether upon the amount of Will which you put into it, and the
intelligence with which you control the mind during the labor involved.
Proceed, now, to make this scene the basis and cause of another scene by contrast. You
are to repeat the above exercise in all respects, except that contrast, and not similarity, is
to furnish your material.
Follow these directions daily until their full value is apparent in imagination entirely
under control of Will.
Exercise No. 12.
The above directions may be repeated by substituting experience for scenery, proceeding,
first, by similarity, and then by contrast. In all cases be strongly conscious of the willing
sense. Continue the exercise indefinitely.
Exercise No. 13.
Read some famous poem of the imagination. It will be better to commit it to memory.
Having thoroughly mastered it, by understanding every word, and by vividly picturing in
the mind every element of fancy, go on to analyze it, making a clear statement in writing
of its consecutive thoughts. Then note carefully every specimen of imagination which it
contains. Then determine its faults and its beauties as a work of the imagination. Then
observe the relation and dependence of one element upon another. Then ascertain the
secret of its beauty and of its power upon thought and feeling. Learn why it has lived and
exerts its acknowledged influence. What is that influence? Continue this exercise
indefinitely until you have mastered many of the world's great poems.
Exercise No. 14.
In a similar manner, read some famous book (not fiction), and treat its imaginative
elements as secrets to be discovered and explained. Continue this work with the best in
your library.

Exercise No. 15.

Take a work of fiction, and give it a similar analysis. You are now dealing with pictures
of life and human nature. Read so as to obtain a vivid portrait of each character. Become
thoroughly acquainted with all the personages of the book. Study the reasons for their
actions. Investigate their motives. Note the influence of ancestry and environment upon
them. Observe whether or not they are acting in a manner that is true to life. Would you
act differently? And why? Appreciate the fact that they reason falsely and do not
adequately consider all reasons involved in choice, and hence, do not give due weight to
the best motives that appeal to them. Go on to follow their conduct to consequences. Are
these natural, demanded by previous acts and conditions? Could the characters have been
improved? Or the plot? Or the general developments of the persons? Or the outcome of
their actions and relations?
Make the book a piece of real life, and study it as above suggested, in order, first, that
you may thoroughly understand it, and, secondly, that you may apply its lessons to your
own life. Continue until you have mastered the best works of fiction in English.
In all this remember that you are cultivating the imagination for the purpose of
discovering reasons for or against conduct and of appreciating consequences. By as much
as you so discover and appreciate in real life must your Will become strengthened and its
determination wiser.
Exercises in Imagination
"The determinate exercise of the Judgment," say Professor W. B. Carpenter, "which
involves the comparison of ideas, can only take place under the guidance of the Will."
Exercise No. 16.
Suppose yourself to be about to take a certain step or to perform a certain act. It is a
matter of vital importance. You wish to make no mistake, for your happiness and welfare
depend upon your decision. But how are you to proceed? You may choose one thing or
the other.
The wisdom of your choice involves the adequate consideration of two matters, motives
and consequences. Apprehended consequences are motives, but this division is
convenient Under motives may be arranged reasons for and against either choice; under
consequences all outcome which you can see as likely or probably to follow your
decision. If you have cultivated memory, the recollection of other similar problems which
you have bee compelled to solve will come to your assistance.
If you have cultivated imagination, you will be enabled to see clearly the motives that
appeal to you, and you will also have power to imagine yourself as entering upon one
course of procedure, passing through possible consequent experiences and reaping
ultimate outcomes. Here will appear the values of preceding exercises But above all, you

should bring to this imaginary problem (a real problem will serve better) a vivid sense of
its reality and importance, and a feeling of strong resolution to consider it with all your
might, and to solve it in the best possible manner.
Let us now suppose the problem. You are not fond of the city or town in which you are
living and conducting your business. You wish to change resident and business to another
place. But there are difficulties in the way. These difficulties you are now to consider.
First, recall all previous experiences in similar matters, and keep them constantly in mind.
Secondly, write in brief every conceivable objection to a change. Example: from your
present domicile. All your friends and associates are here. You have here a business
standing of say, twenty years. Your trade or clientage is established and certain. The town
is growing. Investments are fairly remunerative, and they are safe. Your property is
located in this place. Taxes are rather high, but not unreasonable, and they represent
improvements.
Your home is good and pleasantly situated. Your family enjoy fine social relations and
are fond of the town. The children are taking root. They have opportunities of value.
Schools are first class. Public opinion is sound. Morals are at least average. The churches
are fairly active and progressive. Your age is forty-five.
Does the Prophet Speak Truly?
On the other hand: Climate is not agreeable. Some enemies have been developed. Only a
moderate business can be carried on here. Investments do not. Yield a large return. Taxes
are increasing. The. Population cannot exceed a certain rather low estimate. No new
railroad facilities need be expected. Manufacturing interests are not likely to become
numerous. The surrounding country is agricultural, and it no longer yields its old crops.
There are no mineral resources beneath the surface. The place is far removed from points
of interest, the mountains, the sea, the great cities. You have long been conscious of a
degree of discontent and restlessness. You believe that a new environment would stir you
up to better achievements. You ought to have a larger return for your investments of time
and money. You desire the advantages of a larger sphere. Your family might therein find
increased opportunities for enjoyment and a start in life. You have known better society
than that in which you now move. The church of your choice is not located in the town
where you live.
After these imaginary presentations of reason for and against a change, a decision is still
difficult. You must now go on to select tentatively some place to which you may possibly
transfer your life. There may be several in mind. Each location must receive a full and
careful consideration. You are lawyer and Judge, and you must plead honestly as the one,
and decide impartially as the other.
In each contemplated move, you must call up every possible advantage and disadvantage,
especially the latter, which may be likely to accrue from any choice that you may make,

After each case, for and against, has been presented, proceed carefully to weigh them as
wholes, taking in the general impression of both.
Now note the balance of judgment: "To go, or not to go." Then proceed to review each
case, and carefully strike out all reasons that offset one another, noting, again, at the last,
the general balance of judgment: "To go, or not to go." If the two general judgments
disagree, set the matter aside for future consideration. If they agree, hold the matter in
abeyance a time, but resolve to decide definitely after sufficient opportunity for final
reflection. If then you are in doubt, stay where you are.
Proceed in a similar manner with reference to the place to which you propose to move. If
after a full deliberation you are in doubt as to one place, try another. If, having
determined to move, you cannot decide upon the place "to which," remain where you are.
If you decide to move, stir not until the new residence has been properly determined. If
that is fixed, bend every energy to move to your own advantage. When your opportunity
arrives, seize it quickly. Then dismiss absolutely all regrets. Continue these exercises
indefinitely.
Exercises in Imagination
The above are rough suggestions merely. They set forth what intelligent people always
substantially do with reference to matters of importance. They are here offered because
many even intelligent men seem wanting in the power clearly to see motives and possible
consequences connected with momentous decisions. There are strong Wills which are not
wisely exercised because of a simple lack of imaginative thinking. Many Wills are like
guns set with hair triggers, they go off before good aim can be taken. Deliberation is
worth gold and stocks, and it fore fends against sorrow. But a good deliberation depends
largely upon the imaginative power of the soul. Our great trouble in life is that we "didn't
know it was loaded." It is the work of the Will controlled imagination to know.
Here is the great prophet of success. " Where the Will is healthy the vision must be
correct."
Though creative imagination is one of the mind's most wonderful qualities, yet nowhere
in school or college do we find systematic instruction in this art. All the way from
primeval man through the swing of the centuries and the upward march of mankind, the
imagination has been the basis of progress. As a writer on psychology puts it "The
products of the constructive imagination have been the only stepping stones for material
progress. The constructive imagination of early man, aided by thought, began to conquer
the world. When the winter cold came, the imagination pictured the skin of the animal on
the human body. Will power going out in action: merely made that image a reality. The
chimney, the stove, the stagecoach, the locomotive, are successive milestones, showing
the progressive march of the imagination.
"Every time we tell a story clearly so as to impress the details on the mind of others,
every time we describe a place or a landscape vividly, every time we relate what we have

read in a book of travels so as to arouse definite images in the minds of our hearers, we
are cultivating imagination. It is excellent training for a person to attempt to describe to
others a meadow, a grove, an orchard, the course of a brook, the sky at sunrise, the starry
heavens. If his description is not heavy, like unleavened bread, the liveliness will be due
to the activity of his imagination."
The healthy Will is that which is bent on achieving right personal success by right
methods, because self is a unit in the world's complex whole, which is slowly evolving
the right universal Will.
The law of all this individual evolution is the double law of self knowledge and
adjustment.
That this law may "come good" in your case, you need to cultivate, and rightly use,
yourself and your relations with the world. It is here that imagination plays its part. Who
are you? Find that out. What is your best adjustment to the world? Find that out. Learn to
see things (in self in world), first, as they really are; secondly, as they should be for allround welfare, Then carry out the vision.
The Will must not only be strong; it must also act wisely. Its realest motto is:
I RESOLVE TO WILL WITH POWER, AND FOR THE BEST.
THEREFORE, ATTENTION! TO REASONS AND TO CONSEQUENCES !!

Some Diseases of the Imagination

The underlying cause of all weakness and unhappiness in man, heredity and environment
to the contrary notwithstanding, has always been, and is still, weak habit of thought. This
is proven by the observed instances in which strong habit of thought has invariably made
its masters superior to heredity, and to environment, and to illness, and to weakness of all
kinds, and has redeemed them from non success and misery, to the enjoyment of success,
honor and happiness." - Horace Fletcher.
There are some dangers connected with the imagination which should be avoided,
because they are enemies of a good Will. These dangers are apparent in the mental life of
the majority of people, "Common sense," says James Sully in "Illusions," "knowing
nothing of fine distinctions, is wont to draw a sharp line between the region of illusions
and that of sane intelligence. To be the victim of an illusion is, in the popular judgment,
to he excluded from the category of rational men." But "most men are sometimes liable to
illusion. Hardly anybody is always consistently sober and rational in his perceptions and
beliefs. A momentary fatigue of the nerves, a little mental excitement, a relaxation of the
effort of attention by which we continually take our hearings with respect to the real
world about us, will produce just the same kind of confusion of reality and phantasm
which we observe in the insane." It is to difficulties of this character that the present
chapter seeks to turn attention, because it is believed that they are curable by good health
and the resolute Will.
One of these enemies of Will is reverie, which is not of a true imagination because not
controlled by the mind. Reverie may therefore be banished by the Will, and a true
imagination may be made to take its place.
REGIMES
Exercise No. 1.
Whenever the mind exhibits a tendency to wander aimlessly from one thing to another,
instantly check its roving. In order to do this, select from its pictures a single image, and
deliberately proceed to elaborate that, making it vivid, building up its various elements
into a complete whole. In this work, banish the reverie mood and call up the resolute
sense. Or weave the selected image into some train of purposed thought or action
involving reasoning and an end to be attained. Consider the various motives and follow
out the several consequences to an ultimate. Insist upon seeing vividly every picturable
thing in the thought train. Hold the mind steadily to the line determined on. Continue
until the bent for reverie is displaced by a habit of definite thinking.
Some minds are troubled with various hallucinations Here, again, imagination is out of
control, and feelings are made real and images are rendered objective because such is the
case. There are so called invalids who would now enjoy perfect health had they not

deceived themselves originally and thus brought about conditions which would ruin the
health of a savage. It is not "Christian Science," but common sense, which teaches that
the mind may, by resolute assertion of Will, throw off many physical discomforts. The
writer once called upon a woman who had taken to her bed from sheer obstinacy. This
was her only real disease. But it was real enough at that. Had she been maltreated,
neglected, left to go hungry, or dragged out of her comfortable nest with the injunction to
get well or get out, she would have recovered instantly.
Exercise No. 2.
For a thousand imaginary ills the remedy is a thoroughly "oxidized" state of mind, a mind
saturated with the atmosphere of common sense and good health, and a resolute
contradiction by Will of the importance of the disease or pain. The remedy, thus, is not
reiterated denial that the ill exists, for that is merely another invitation to insanity, and it
often simply intensifies the difficulty; the soul should resolutely assert that the matter has
no such importance as is suggested, and then proceed to forget the idea by strenuous
engagement in other considerations.
Exercise No. 3.
Visual and auditory hallucinations may sometimes be banished by a wise assertion of
Will. The soul should intensely insist that itself is master. Conditions underlying the
images or sounds should be thoroughly investigated. These may be physical, requiring
rest and change of scene and diet for correction. Or they may be mental, in which case
the same course may be pursued, with a complete variation of interest, this being found in
matters far out of the ordinary habits of life.
Exercise No. 4.
In other cases the main thing is to get control of the hallucination. If it appear under
certain conditions, compel it to appear under other conditions. Persist in substituting a
different image or sound. Then compel it to vanish at will. Finally dismiss it. These
directions are more easily given than followed, to be sure; but the truth is that many of
our ills are due to a weak and fickle Will, and this may be strengthened and trained by
wise application to the difficulties suggested.
These pages do not offer a substitute for medical treatment. They are designed merely for
ills of a light and temporary form. If then difficulties become more than foolishness of
fickle fancy, the science of experts is called for.
Exercise No. 5.
There are spirits which do not manifest to the eye, yet are terrible in power. Their arena is
the heart. These are the spirits of fear. And these also may be banished by the resolute
Will.

It is first necessary to be an honest person. The honest soul need fear nothing. But the
honest soul is not always wise, and fears do haunt the life of such; fear of man, fear of ill
luck, fear of failure, fear of misfortune, fear of death, fear of hell, fear of God. The name
of fear is legion. It is, therefore, not probable that one who has been terrorized by these
devils may banish them instantly, bag and baggage, once and for all; but it is as true as
life that the honest soul may in time, by the persistent Will, cast them forth forever.
You fear men whom you suppose to be above you. Proceed, now, to build up a perfectly
honest life; then meet them at every opportunity; learn their weaknesses as well as their
virtues; will incessantly to fear them no more. Remember, especially, that there are other
people who, with equal foolishness, fear yourself, and that those whom you fear are very
likely troubled with fears in turn for others superior in their thought to themselves. And
possibly they fear you as well. It was Grant's belief that the enemy was a much afraid as
himself; he would therefore strike first. If, with a politic understanding of the word
"strike," you can learn to plunge into the feared atmosphere of those you fear, you will
certainly in time banish this imaginary evil.
Similarly with fear of ill luck. This is superstition. The remedy is intelligence as above.
There are few failures with the honest soul and the persistent Will. Failure in the life of
such a one is made admonition of experience and lesson for the future. Fear of misfortune
is a coward's attitude. No misfortune ever befell an honest heart which might not be
transformed into a blessing. Fear of death is anticipation of an experience which will or
may bring its own antidote. If thou art right, fear not now, for thou wilt not then. Nature
cares for the upright in that supreme hour. Fear of hell is either a ghost of theological
making, or a most salutary and truthful incentive to climb out of hell's conditions. So long
as you are out of hell now, fear nothing. If there is any danger of hell tomorrow, it is the
prophecy of hell today.
It is in the power of mind to banish all irrational fears clean out of court. With a normal
mind and a resolute Will, all these illusions of the imagination may be destroyed.
Cultivate the sane and resolute mood.
RESOLVE TO WILL FOR MENTAL BALANCE. ATTENTION !
"The other day," said Cyrus W. Field, at a banquet given in his horror in New York on
the completion of the laying of the Atlantic Cable, "Mr. Lattimer Clark telegraphed from
Ireland, across the ocean and back again, with a battery formed in a lady's thimble! And
now Mr. Collett writes me front Heart's Content: 'I have just sent my compliments to Dr.
Could, of Cambridge, who is at Valentia, with a battery composed of a gun cap, with a
strip of zinc, excited by a drop of water, the simple bulk of a tear."' That gun-cap battery
is the human Will, for compressed energy the wonder of the universe.

Destruction of Habit
Destruction of Immoral Habits

But if having been once defeated, thou shalt say, The next time I will conquer; and then
the same thing over again, be sure that in the end thou wilt be brought to such a sorry and
feeble state that henceforth thou wilt not so much as know that thou art sinning; but thou
wilt begin to make excuses for the thing, and then confirm that saying of Hesiod to be
true
"With ills unending strives the putter off." -- Epictetus,
PRELIMINARY
Francis Bacon said: "A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds; therefore let him
seasonably water the one, and destroy the other," The first part of this advice we have
striven in preceding chapters to follow; destroying weeds of a harmful character is to be
the business of the present.
A large portion of our life represents habit. This is not necessarily an evil; indeed, the
establishment of habituated action is indispensable to intelligent existence. But the word
"habit" often signifies fixed tendencies to action, either physical or mental, which are
injurious, or foolish or morally wrong. As the great factor in the formation of all habits is
repetition continued until attention is not required, the repeated assault of the Will
directed by keenest attention and governed by desire until the fixed tendency is
overcome, seems to be the only method for rooting out these obnoxious weeds of body
and soul. A strong Will can master many habits at once, if the man genuinely desires that
this be done. A continued effort to destroy evil habits must develop the Will. But this
effort supposes conflicting desires or impulses; those running to the habit, and those
opposing it. Hence the value of mental culture, and especially of strength of memory,
imagination and Will, in order that the conflict may be made to turn in the right direction.
The first difficulty is a general want of self control; a second is a faint or fickle
perception of motives and consequences; a third is a bad memory of an evil past; a last is
the weak desire for cure. To overcome habits, then, one must bring his entire attention to
the matter, must think intensely of the motives and outcomes involved, and must resolve
to do all things necessary to turn the mind away from habit toward freedom.
We affirm that we resolve; yet perhaps no resolution has really arisen in the mind. In a
time of great sorrow, or of extreme excitement of pleasure, or of intense anger or disgust
with self, or of fear of results, resolve sometimes is so deeply cut into the soul that it has
opportunity to discover its ability to perform and to suffer, and to become habituated a
little to the necessary discomfort of self denial, and so to take a new hold by Will for a

more persistent effort. By this time the "force of habit" and the test of continuance have
become slightly less, while the power of Will has correspondingly grown.
Destruction of Immoral Habits
"Perseverance now is sure prophet of reward," and who, when the death bringing
consideration comes, looks at its face, consents to its presence (he is speaking of the cold
consideration of reason), clings to it, affirms it, and holds it fast, in spite of the host of
exciting mental images which rise in revolt against it and would expel it from the mind.
Sustained in this way by a resolute effort of attention, the difficult object ere long begins
to call up its own congeries and associates and ends by changing the disposition of the
man's consciousness altogether.
"Everywhere, then, the function of the effort is the same; to keep affirming and adopting
a thought which, if left to itself, would slip away. It may be cold and flat when the
spontaneous mental drift is toward excitement, or great and arduous when the
spontaneous drift is toward repose. In the one case the effort has to inhibit an explosion,
in the other to arouse an obstructed Will."
Nevertheless, the function of the Will lies underneath the desire; to keep desire for
indulgence out, and to make desire for freedom stronger. The latter is the work of right
mindedness, the former of a determined Will, After all then, people are slaves to habit
simply because they consent to be slaves.
"Moral action is action in the line of the greatest resistance."
Before going to the following pages, therefore, it will be well to decide definitely that
you honestly wish to eliminate the evils mentioned, You have sought a strong Will. For
what purpose, if you must yet remain a slave? Let the motto of all previous exercises now
be firmly held in mind;
I RESOLVE TO WILL ! ATTENTION ! !
PROFANITY
This is a mark of low breeding. In the long run the best breeding comes up from plebeian
blood and common surroundings. It is the specialization of ordinary materials. You can
contribute better than yourself to the fruit of your loins. Here is the golden faith of true
Americanism. Profanity is useless; it ruins spoken language; it causes trouble; it is
undignified; it is immoral. Therefore, away with it !

Resolve and Thou Art Free

REGIMES
1. Think the whole matter over, and set out to become a gentleman. Resolve to stop,
now and forever. Keep the thought in mind: the profane man is a fool. When you
slip again into the habit, do not pass the fault lightly, but reprove yourself
severely. Resolve with increased fury of Will to banish the evil.
2. Imagine the best woman you have ever known to be present, and then make your
apologies to her offended dignity.
3. If you feel that you must indulge, proceed with the foolishness of counting twenty
five, slowly and viciously because of your dishwater weakness; don't think
"swear"; think twenty five.
4. If you are very weak in this respect, substitute at first a code of jargon for your
profanity; when this habit is formed, break it according to the above instructions.
You can now do this for the reason that you have shown successful Will in one
direction, and there are no words quite so satisfactory to a profane person as those
which you have ceased to use,
5. Meanwhile, write out a complete list of all the profanity you are in the habit of
using, Carry it about with you. Frequently read it, take in its significance,
understand its utter folly. At every reading, resolve to rid your vocabulary of
every word. Ten days ought to cure this habit for all time.
EXAGGERATION
A good deal of downright lying is due to a bent for exaggeration. A lively imagination
and a vivacious temperament may easily induce enlarged or colored statements without
intention to deceive. This fault becomes a habit, the liar is born, unconscious of his
talents. The intended lie is probably a rarity, Often times people state as facts what are
merely conclusions from their own impressions. This is especially apt to be the case
when themselves are involved. They do not intend to utter falsehoods; they do not assert
what they consciously know to be untrue; but they do assert what they do not surely
know to be the fact. When a man states a thing or truth as fact, it is his business to know
that it is certainly not false. We gather from the facts which we do know conclusions
which we think must be true. Then we proclaim our conclusions as realities. We do not
take the trouble to tell merely what we surely know, that is, facts; but we proceed across
lots, because it is easier, and we rather like that way, to assert our opinions as bald
actualities.
Here we have the heart of lying, carelessness as to exact truth. Few people relate ordinary
matters with naked veracity. "The thing was so and so." "He said." "I said." Etc., etc. He
did not say exactly that, but just a trifle less. You did not say exactly that, but just a trifle
more. The thing was not absolutely so and so, but just a trifle different. All this you know
well enough; but you desire to be interesting, and, before you are aware of it, you are
carried along in the zest of anecdote. And you are conscious of this fact, but you thrust

the feeling into the background and go on with "picturesque speech." In plain English,
you are next thing to a liar.
REGIMES.
1. A partial remedy will be suggested under the habit "Garrulousness." The man
who strips his statements to the fewest possible words is not often an exaggerator,
in the nature of the case, and is seldom a liar, You should therefore cultivate
abbreviated speech, however much patience and practice may be required. It
might do you a deal of good to conclude, and to say softly to yourself a hundred
times a day for a month: "I am a liar! I am a liar!" Confessing this, the next story
you tell will not be so funny, the humorist who sticks to absolute truth is a
laughing graveyard, but you will become a great deal "longer" on veracity.
2. Then you should thoroughly free yourself from the fog of impressions. Imagine
your mind to be a judge and your tongue to be a witness. The witness must
confine himself to facts, to what he has seen and heard, not what he has believed
about these matters. Example: The tongue testifies; "The man was running down
the street. He had a toothache," "Was he really running?" "Well, no; he was
walking rapidly, almost in a run." Now, why didn't you say exactly that? Because
you wanted your incident to be lively. "How do you know that the man had a
toothache?" "Why, he had his hand on his face, and his expression was distorted."
As a matter of fact, the man had bitten his tongue, and his look merely indicated
that he had discovered that this member was not designed for mastication.
It was just the regular statutory grimace. But you jumped to the conclusion that
his tooth was making chaos of his peace of mind, and hence his appearance was
"awful." Thus you proceeded to think, not what you saw, but your impression.
You have related an inference for facts. It is necessary, therefore, that you should
desperately resolve never to relate as truth what you do not positively know to be
naked fact. This resolution must be sunk into the marrow of your soul, and held in
mind continuously for months.
3. You should discard your paint pot. Your fancy idealizes or heightens all colors. A
good honest blush is "as red as fire." A pleasant smile is "a yellow grin." "The
shade of thought" is "bluer than a whetstone." A sparkling laugh is "a lightning
glare of hilarity." Now, you must learn to see things as they are, and to tell them
as you really see them. You are telling a story, and in it yourself and a few other
people are made to say a dozen things which you know were never said. You
paint their language in colors that are too high. If you are not past redemption,
you were aware of this fact. During the entire recital an inner god is whispering,
"No, no; that is not correct! Tone it down! Speak the truth!"
But your rush of speech and interest are like lively fireworks, and everything is
doubled and exaggerated. You continue to dash on the paint until at last the sober
inner Truth teller actually joins in the laugh, at the shock. After a little he rises up
and shouts: "You are a liar! A liar!" At the end, he dies a perfectly natural death,

In order to overcome this habit, you should first use your senses, to know things
just as they exist and occur. And you must practice daily, until it becomes a habit,
the art of telling facts as nakedly as possible. For example: recall some incident of
yesterday, and proceed to narrate it, coldly and slowly, in the fewest words, and
with absolutely no exaggeration. Meanwhile, resolve, and state your resolution
aloud, in the briefest and coldest manner:
"I will henceforth reject impressions and all adjective coloring, and confine
myself entirely to actual facts." To bring this about, you must determine, and
begin now, to employ no adjective word if you can make sense without it, and
when the adjective must appear, to use the weakest of its kind.
In reality, that word will be the very best, though at first it may look like a
featherless bird, The bird will in time get all the feathers required, and a "perfectly
wonderful liar " will have become a man of plain but reliable speech, a comfort to
himself and a support of " English with a moral quality."
IRRITABILITY AND ANGER
Irritation is the germ of anger. There are those, however, who become irritable without
explosions of wrath. Very likely their difficulty is physical. A set of unstrung nerves is
often the result of wrong doing, but nevertheless demands the sympathy of the possessors
of good health. Weak and disordered nerves are a misfortune, whatever their cause, and
should be so treated.
REGIMES.
1. The cure in such a case would seem to be rest and treatment by medical
specialists of unquestioned standing. Yet here also the Will may find its
opportunity. It can do little without scientific assistance, but, thus aided, it may
and does accomplish much. If the sick may wisely be exhorted to a resolute fight,
much more those who are irritable because of a "touchy" and fault finding
disposition. With reasonably well people irritability and anger are inexcusable.
You may thrust these devils out of your life if you honestly desire to do so. In
most cases this may he done by a sheer exercise of Will. Certainly with a little
artificial assistance the task is sure to end in success.
2. "Refuse to express a passion and it dies." Count ten before venting your anger,
and its occasion seems ridiculous.
3. But you must stop violating physical law, and resolve to live according to the
dictates of a sound judgment. The suggestions of the chapter on "General Health"
should be observed.
4. Cultivate a cheerful state of mind. You can do this if you will. Entertain only
pleasing and elevating views and feelings; all others you must resolutely forego.
Don't be foolish and brood over wrongs and unpleasant conditions, whether
fancied or real.

5. Don't worry. Whenever you are tempted to do so, play the buffoon, or recall the
funniest story you know. You will be out of the mood, but it can be forced. Bury
yourself in humor: laugh; assert your Will; shout to your soul: "I will not worry! "
"If you sit all day in a moping posture," remarks Professor James, "sigh and reply
to everything with a dismal voice, your melancholy lingers. If we wish to conquer
undesirable emotional tendencies in ourselves, we must assiduously, and in the
first instance cold bloodedly, go through the outward motions of those contrary
dispositions we prefer to cultivate. The reward of persistency will infallibly come,
in the fading out of the sullenness or depression and the advent of real
cheerfulness and kindliness in their stead."
In plain, untechnical language, Dr. Geo. W. Jacoby has said, "Worry works its
irreparable injury through certain cells of the brain, and that delicate mechanism
being the nutritive center of the body, the other organs become gradually affected.
Thus, some disease of these organs or a combination of organic maladies arising,
death finally ensues."
Scientifically, but little is known about those subtle senses, perception, thought,
judgment and reason, except that they are closeted behind the frontal bones, and
that it is here the Will power is generated to be communicated to every other part
of the body. The cells located here, some of them in constant service, others
acting only now and then, are the most important in the brain. They are the mental
citadel, and it is here the awful malady we call worry makes its first deadly
assault.
"Considered as a disease, worry, when it does not kill outright, frequently injures
to the extent of inducing sickness, physical discomfort and the inclination to seek
relief in suicide. It is, perhaps, one of the worst of ills to which the mind is heir.
"The remedy for the evil lies in the training of the Will to cast off cares and seek a
change of occupation when the first warning is sounded by Nature in intellectual
lassitude and disinterestedness in life. Relaxation is the certain foe of worry, and
'don't fret' one of the healthiest of maxims."
6. You should resolve to discover some good, some bright side, some pleasing
element, in everything and in every situation. You must make this a real pursuit of
your soul.
7. You should keep before your thought, in relation to all those with whom you
come in contact, their virtues and excellence. Cultivate that charity which thinks
no ill.
8. You should read only that which is agreeable and useful, Shun the blue book, the
yellow journal, tainted fiction, and all that is skeptical toward the wonder and
glory of life.
9. So far as feelings are concerned, live only in the present. The past is done for; it is
not half so bad as you suppose. Verify this by recalling its pleasures and successes

alone, resolutely ignoring its sadness and failures. Live in the present of a sunny
mood. Anticipate nothing but good in the future. Burn all doleful prophecies; they
are lies. Some evil must befall you, but those about which you are certain will
never " come true."
10. Companion with cheerful thoughts and people exclusively. Why be friendly with
those who are miserable for the sake of their deadly comfort? Let the dead bury
their dead. This does not contradict the law of kindness. If your motive is their
good, you are then armed against contagion.
11. On the morning of each day, find some pleasant or inspiring thought, blaze it
deeply into your mind, and cling to it during the hours. Do not let it escape you a
moment. Repeat it when irritable, Repeat it when tempted to anger. Repeat it as
you perceive the shadows of melancholy stealing over your soul. Invest it with
magical power. Constitute it an amulet or charm.
12. Preserve a daily record of instances in which. you have shown irritability or anger
or melancholy. Be exact in this; let it be faithful and honest personal history. At
the close of each day, write it; then read it; then resolve to improve. At intervals
review that record, and note progress. State the fact in your diary, and remember
it for encouragement. Continue until you are master.
13. On no provocation permit yourself to fall into melancholy, or to show irritation or
anger, in company with another person, Never forget your self respect. You must
remember that man is entitled to be happy. People and things about you are
irritating and depressing, no doubt; but observe this fact, that many with whom
you become angry will merely exult in your downfall, deriving unworthy pleasure
from your weakness. Why should you contribute to such enjoyment while
rendering yourself miserable? Why make distress for yourself, whatever other
people may do? Here is a kind of living suicide. Resolve to be happy. You are not
so when irritated, and you simply give the unkind an unnecessary advantage.
Your melancholy may be the sole source of enjoyment for some people who
protest, nevertheless, that you are causing them misery; why should you play such
a fool's part?
14. Don't try to be a martyr! Don't assume the role of suffering innocence! Don't pity
yourself! The man who pities himself is lost. Don't nurse your nerves! Don't
coddle your whims! Don't "baby" your sins!
15. Stand for your rights, control your feelings, insist on a happy frame of mind, take
frequently a moral bath in honest, manful Will power, and live absolutely above
the feeble minded expletive, the wretched sarcasm, the dastardly fling, the
cowardly meanness, the cellar of miasmatic brooding and the psycho-physical
poison of anger!
Brooding o'er ills, the irritable soul Creates the evils feared and hugs its pain. See thou
some good in every somber whole, And, viewing excellence, forget life's dole In will the
last sweet drop of joy to drain.
EVIL IMAGINATIONS Opposed to purity, to cleanliness, to personal dignity, to moral
vigor, to health of body and soul, this habit has its roots in a degraded tone of mind. Two
things are therefore observable: desire for evil, and a want of proper mental occupation.

The desire can be mastered by improvement in health, and by substitution of worthy

thought in the mind.
REGIMES
1. The first general treatment must be physical, 'Nerves which are out of tone, must
be brought back to the full condition of health by the varied activities of inspiring
interests. You must cooperate by putting yourself in a healthful regime of daily
living,
1. You must live regularly, as far as possible.
2. You must bring yourself to a plain and simple diet, avoiding alcohol in
every form, and, if injurious, tea and coffee.
3. You should bathe swiftly every day, rinse in clean and gradually cooling
water, and rub thoroughly with coarse towels until you are perfectly dry
and all aglow.
4. Your thought should immediately be taken up with rugged, active affairs.
5. You should resolutely compel yourself to engage in systematic, but not
violent, exercise.
6. You should absolutely shun every luxury of an enervating nature.
7. Your amusements should be entirely free from any unworthy excitement.
8. You must cultivate an ideal of womanhood as an ever present portrait in
the gallery of thought, innocent, dignified, saintly.
On occasion, recite heroic poetry or exalted prose, which you have learned for the
purpose. Or recall some stirring event in your own life, or some humorous
incident, driving the soul into healthful moods.
2. You should make it your business to occupy the mind with plans, ideas, trains of
reasoning, which are practical, noble and profoundly interesting. It may be well to
take up some problem of real life as a daily subject of thought, to assail it with
questions, to analyze its difficulties, to discover its relations, to bore steadfastly
into it, until you have arrived at a solution which seems to be reasonable or
satisfactory. Then go into another subject and treat it in the same manner.
3. Whenever an unworthy thought occurs to you, thrust it aside and replace it by a
better.
4. Remember, you are to fight this evil indirectly, never directly. So long as your
mind is upon it to destroy it, it still remains. Make your main fight by occupying
the field of thought with values and nobilities.
5. It is true here as it is with reference to every other habit: If you say, "I cannot,"
you desire not to conquer. Every habit is rooted in thoughtlessness or desire. Kill
the desire. Or better, reverse the desire. Example: "I desire this or that
indulgence." Substitute for this, "I desire its opposite; I desire the correlative
good; I desire freedom!" There is nothing which a man cannot do, reasonably
speaking, if he actually and profoundly desires it.

6. You must deliberately demand improvement, "Brain cells and brain fibres cannot
learn better ways from preachers, only your own untiring will can do anything
with them."
TOBACCO AND LIQUOR HABIT
If there is not enough manhood left in you to desire reform, you must consult a physician
or a "cure"; and if this will avail nothing, then, to be sure, you must go on as a slave.
REGIMES
Regime 1.
But if your manhood is still sufficient for these things, you must waste no time over these
habits, as such, or directly considered. You must treat with desire, first, middle, last and
directly, leaving habit to take care of itself, Thus, you must banish desire for stimulants
by substituting for it desires of other descriptions. Keep the first out of mind. Keep the
latter forever in thought.
Illustration: The Man Who Failed. One who visits a "Keely Cure" and is reformed, falls,
in a few months into the old habit. It is said his case is hopeless; so it is, but not for
anything in the treatment; the man doesn't genuinely desire freedom. He drinks now
because he desires indulgence, or because he does not desire reform. His appetite is his
plea; but his desire lies under his appetite. Were he confronted by a loaded rifle, with the
assurance of a court of law that the instant he drank this first glass which he holds to his
lips he would be shot to death like a dog, he would defer the indulgence because desiring
life better than one drink. The contrary is asserted, but it is simply the exaggeration of
deluded martyrdom.
Illustration: The Man Who Won. A certain man had put drink in place of wife, family and
honor. Awakened in his bed, after a prolonged "spree," with a fiery craving for alcohol,
he abjectly begged his wife to fetch him whiskey. She coldly refused. In his torment, he
promised that if she would grant this one request, he would forever abjure the use of
drink. Thereat she yielded. He drank as a babe drinks milk. But he kept his word. Here
was right desire harnessed to Will.
But the wife furnished ready hot coffee every hour of the day and night during months.
Many men continue to drink whose wives or mothers lack wit and the power of
simulating affection. Womanly "coddling" is a divine institution. A reforming drinker is
weak in nerves and a baby in soul let his woman folk pour wrath upon drink and nurse
the man for what he is, a hero with no legs to stand on.
Illustration: The Man Who Tried Again. A young man discovered the alternative: drink
and a perfect mixture of ruin and disgrace, or total abstinence with large success. He got
into his soul, first of all, a mighty desire for freedom, and then a great determination to
suffer; he could suffer if he could not stop the use of alcohol. He went into the battle and

fell. He sobered, got a new desire for reform, and went into the fight once again. He
suffered torments beyond description. His body was an armed enemy. His nervous
system massed itself upon his resolution with persistent assaults which ceased not, day or
night, during months. He received assistance from no "cure" and no religious experience,
so far as he could determine. Hourly he held conversations with his stomach, saying to
that organ with clenched fists and shut teeth, "You cannot and shall not have drink." He
never yielded the second time. He triumphed, of course. Here was desire harnessed to
Will.
Illustration: The Man Who Makes Excuses. "How many excuses does the drunkard find,"
writes Professor James, like a scientific reformer,'' when each new temptation comes! It is
a new brand of liquor which the interests of intellectual culture in such matters oblige
him to test; moreover it is poured out and it is sin to waste it; or others are drinking and it
would be churlishness to refuse; or it is but to enable him to sleep, or just to get through
this job of work; or it isn't drinking, it is because he feels so cold; or it is Christmas day;
or it is a means of stimulating him to make a more powerful resolution in favor of
abstinence than any he has hitherto made; or it is just this once, and once doesn't count,
etc., it is, in fact, anything you like except being a drunkard. That is the conception that
will not stay before the poor soul's attention. But if he once gets able to pick out that way
of conceiving from all the other possible ways of conceiving the various opportunities
which occur, if through thick and thin he holds to it that this is being a drunkard and is
nothing else, he is not likely to remain one long."
Regime 2.
The drink habit is partly psychic, partly physical. In either case the desire must be
displaced by a stronger motive. A mediaeval legend illustrates this law. The people of
Gubio were terrorized by a wolf, and Saint Francis undertook to tame the animal, He
went outside the walls of the town, and, meeting the wolf, said to him: "I wish to make
peace between you and these people, Brother Wolf, so that you may offend them no
more, and neither they nor their dogs shall attack you," Then, as the wolf laid his paw on
the saint's hand, in token of a covenant, he promised that the animal should be fed during
the rest of his life. " For well I know that all your evil deeds were caused by hunger."
Regime 3.
If the drink habit is caused by a physical condition, it should be counteracted by a regime
of food and innocent drink that shall maintain a state of physical satisfaction. A full meal
is a sound foundation for a good Will If the habit is the result of a psychic desire, the Will
must be bolstered by a new psychic ideal, of any character whatever. Anything that will
introduce to the soul, and maintain there, a suggestion stronger than that of liquor, will
win, and nothing less can win.
Hugh Miller relates that a man o' war sailor in an engagement had become so exhausted
that he could scarcely lift a marlin spike, but, the enemy renewing the fight, "a thrill like
that of an electric shock passed through the frame of the exhausted sailor; his fatigue at

once left him; and, vigorous and strong as when the action first began, he found himself
able, as before, to run out the one side of a twenty-four pounder." The habit conquering
Will must be fed.
Regime 4.
Some physicians recommend for the tobacco habit the incessant eating of peanuts,
inasmuch as a condition of the stomach seems to be engendered by them which revolts
against nicotine. If you can nauseate a man every time he craves tobacco he will cease to
desire it. It is said that milk has the same effect in some cases. Every person long
addicted to these habits needs some medical assistance, because a physical state is
involved which usually requires counteraction. Having then, a genuine desire to reform,
follow the directions below.
Regime 5.
Procure a tonic prescription from a physician who understands your case. Eat heartily
plain food, especially any kind which does not seem to agree with tobacco or alcohol, and
keep forever in mind the goal of freedom. Eat peanuts or drink milk instead of indulging
your appetite in habit. Fix deeply in your soul the conviction that the difficulty is not
insuperable, but will yield in time. This is true, because the entire physical system tends
to adapt itself to new conditions. Continue these reform conditions long enough and you
are a free man.
Regime 6.
Don't talk about your effort. Don't dwell upon your suffering. Keep yourself busy, in out
of door activity as much as possible. Contrive to get a great amount of sound sleep every
day. Take a noon nap daily. Flood your stomach with pure water day after day. If the
weather permits, perspire freely. Put tobacco and liquor out of sight. Keep them out of
mind. When their thought arises, banish the suggestion instantly. As you do so, and in
order to do so, set the mind upon other matters.
Regime 7.
Don't suffer yourself to fall into the "dead stare ", that unconscious standstill of mind
which occasionally seizes men who are fighting these battles. Anticipate such "spells,"
and throw yourself into action requiring no concentration of thought.
Regime 8.
Don't pity yourself. Entertain no sympathy for your suffering nor your weakness. Don't
play martyr. Don't class yourself with heroic reformers. Don't nurse your egotism. Don't
imagine that you are doing some great thing. Forget all these temptations. People have
lost track of neuralgia over Mark Twain's "Innocents Abroad," and have fought on in

battle with shattered arms. You can absolutely forget tobacco and alcohol, if you
determine to do so.
Regime 9.
Don't ask the Divine Being to cure these habits. All such "cures" have been
psychological. Deity is the author of a true psychology and religious experience is
psychological, to be sure; but the Infinite works through His own laws, one of which,
underlying the crowning achievement of moral realms, soul development, is that Divine
help is given to no human being in an especial manner or degree who can achieve success
by obedience to ordinary principles of right living.
A person once declared that "the Lord had taken away his craving for tobacco." When
closely and persistently questioned, he confessed that there had been times at first
wherein his throat and mouth had felt "raw," one of the symptoms of tobacco denial. He
had forgotten his desire in his intense religious excitement. Here was "Divine assistance,"
of course, but without any distinctively supernatural element.
Some people can get "cured at the altar." It doesn't matter what notions they entertain, so
long as they escape the "beggarly elements," But other people can never quite surrender
to the auto suggestion necessary, and frequently these fail of achieving what is called "
victory" because they rely upon mistaken ideas and ignore the true law of these subjects,
the curability of habits where there is genuine desire backed by resolute Will and proper
mental conditions. Any method which will create desire for reform, foster determination,
and occupy the mind with absorbing thought or excitement long enough to enable the
system to readjust itself, will realize the happy results of the "converted drunkard " or the
"sanctified tobacco user."
A book just published on curing the tobacco habit, by Mae Levy, has among others, the
following "dictums ":
1. Having decided to quit tobacco, keep your thoughts upon the grand benefit soon
to come, and do not allow yourself to be dissuaded from your purpose.
2. Continue with tobacco as usual for two weeks. If you feel that you are making
such progress that you can cease the use of tobacco before the fixed time, do not
stop completely, reduce the quantity if so inclined.
3. Sip all liquids and other soft foods, allowing them to remain for a brief period in
the mouth before swallowing. Chew every mouthful or bite of solid or dry food
many times before swallowing.
4. Avoid foods or drinks that disagree with you.
5. Consume eight glasses of liquid, non alcoholic and non gaseous, daily, between
meals,
6. Practice deep breathing every morning and night.
In conclusion we may quote from "The Culture of Courage " suggestions which make for
the conquering spirit. "Faith, conceived as the affirmatively expectant attitude of the

whole self, is one of the mightiest powers in this world. It is the fundamental element in
auto suggestion.
You are therefore invited to make your entire thought and life a suggestion to self that
these directions, faithfully carried out, will infallibly eliminate from your nature " the
habits indicated.
Resolve and Thou Art Free
But remember, "faith without works is merely a 'say-so.' Real faith is confident action
toward a goal. The continuation of such action measures the kind and power of faith
supposed. You should, therefore, determine to persevere, a thousand years if necessary,
for you are yourself everlasting, if you will. But let it be remembered that mere resolution
is only one half of real determination. Some people resolve, and then resolve, never
achieving victory. Others put 'bite' into the matter in hand once for all, and do not seem to
know how to let go. The only cure for resolution is determination, for determination is
just doing the thing resolved upon.
"The soul that says, 'I am going to overcome,' will very likely fail. The leverage runs too
far into the future. A valiant Will always acts on a short lever. You should, therefore,
declare: 'I am overcoming! The thing is now being accomplished! The matter in hand is
mastered.' This may seem a trifle false, but it is more than a trifle true if you really mean
it. When a man swears the needed thing now, it is by so much already done in his Will,
and a good deal of it, unknown to him, is accomplished in the concrete."

Correction Of Other Habits

"Impure thought, despondent, hopeless, repining, fault finding, fretful, slanderous
thought, is certain to make the blood impure and fill the system with disease." So with
certain habits of body consequent on such habits of thought, such as the habit of worry,
the habit of laying undue stress on things not the most needful for the hour; the habit of
trouble borrowing and many others, which permeate and influence every act of life. Their
combined effect is exhaustion, and exhaustion is the real mother of most of the ills flesh
is heir to." Prentice Mulford.
"We are continually denying," said Henry Ward Peecher," that we have habits which we
have been practicing all our lives. Here is a man who has lived forty or fifty years; and a
chance shot sentence or word lances him and reveals to him a trait which he has always
possessed, but which, until now, he had not the remotest idea that he possessed. For forty
or fifty years he has been fooling himself about a matter as plain as the nose on his face."
We now take up certain habits not regarded as immoral.

SLANG
Perhaps one such unconscious habit is that of slang. Some people are, indeed, slaves to
the tyrant, "Correct Style." There is a golden mean. It is related of a college professor that
his usual manner of speaking was so excessively elegant that he really obscured the
natural scintillations of a bright mind; he was dull where a slight admixture of the
"common parlance" would have imparted vivacity to his otherwise interesting
conversation. He stands as a type of the few uncanny and " literary fellows."
One may indulge slightly in slang as an agreeable concession to a work a day world, but
its habitual use indicates a want of self control. "The use of slang," said Dr. O.W.
Holmes, "or cheap generic terms, as a substitute for differentiated specific expressions, is
at once a sign and a cause of mental atrophy. It is the way in which a lazy adult shifts the
trouble of finding any exact meaning in his (or her) conversation on the other party. If
both talkers are indolent, all their talk lapses into the vague generalities of early
childhood, with the disadvantage of a vulgar phraseology. It is a prevalent social vice of
the time, as it has been of times that are past."
The habit may be destroyed by following the suggestions relating to profanity and
garrulousness. Remember that slang consisted originally of the "cant words used by
thieves, peddlers, beggars, and the vagabond classes generally." Cultivate the society of
the best speech, "If you hear poor English and read poor English," said Richard Grant
White, "you will pretty surely speak poor English and write poor English."
Will Masters the Lord of Misrule
HESITATION OF SPEECH
It may be that the stammerer's ancestry could never get well quit of a clear statement.
Many people can make no smooth headway through a simple utterance of fact or opinion.
With real " stuttering" we have here nothing to do. Those who stammer, without rhyme
or reason, are but themselves at fault. Perhaps the difficulty is due to a want of "steam"
sufficient to force a clear expression of thought; some people do well when excited or
angry, but in calm moments they make sad work of it. Perhaps, again, the trouble is
owing to an amount of "steam" which they do not control: they speak smoothly when not
disturbed, but excitement causes them to sputter like a fire-hose out of which water is
failing. Persistent practice of the suggestions below ought to cure this difficulty, whatever
its cause, except in case of physical deformity.
Regime 1.
Recall some incident of your experience or observation occurring within the last twentyfour hours. Deliberately and rapidly recite, in an ordinary tone of voice, and as if
speaking to some person, a connected account of the entire transaction. Speak as rapidly
as possible. Do not permit yourself to pause an instant for want of a proper word; thrust

in any word, as nearly right as may be, or even one having no related significance, any
word, and go swiftly on to the end.
Regime 2.
When you have begun a sentence, plunge straight through it to the close. Then proceed in
the same manner with the next, and drive yourself to the finish of your account.
Regime 3.

Now repeat the process, resolving to employ better language with each sentence;
but do not pause an instant; force yourself to say what you desire in some way, no
matter whether elegant or not. Continue daily practice of these directions until
your difficulty is overcome.

Regime 4.
But meanwhile, one fault in your speech is this. you do not consciously think your
thought in actual words. This you must learn to do. Recall, then, some subject of thought
on which you have an opinion. Proceed, now, to state that opinion exactly to yourself and
in an ordinary tone of voice. The exercise may be varied by pronouncing the words
mentally, but do not fall into that imbecile habit of moving the lips.
Your opinion must be uttered rapidly, the Will compelling the thought to march on
without hesitation, no matter what an occasional word may chance to be. You have two
things to learn: to think exact thoughts in actual words; and to think them with the
greatest speed.
Regime 5.
It will assist you, now, if you will begin to write the opinion or account as swiftly as you
can dash the pen across the page. Work here also with fierce energy, never pausing an
instant, but always, when tempted to hesitate, writing the best word of which you can
think, or throwing in a dash or any word coming to mind, When this is done, sentence
after sentence, read the whole, and proceed to criticize and correct: then rewrite in a
better manner but with all possible speed.
Regime 6.
Commit to memory and keep in mind the following rules:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

I will speak rapidly, or slowly, as required.

I will never stop for a word.
I will never pause to correct a word or a phrase.
I will never leave a sentence unfinished.
I will never turn back in a sentence.

6. I will use the best possible language.

7. I will not speak in two styles, one for common life, and one for uncommon
occasions.
8. I will adopt a good style and always employ this.
9. I will not speak loosely, and I will not converse like a prig or a pedant.
10. I will be correct, yet simple; elegant, yet unaffected.
MIND-WANDERING
Elsewhere, in Chapter XVIII, will be found other pertinent remarks on this fault. The
importance of the topic cannot be overestimated, and it will therefore bear further
suggestions.
The wandering mind is the thoughtless mind. Thought loves the highway; notions climb
the fences. Thoughts are trained hounds; fancies are puppies off for every scent. It would
weary the intellect of a Newton to follow the wanderings of a young dog. Wandering
thoughts waste the brain and they get no "game." The uncontrolled brain is a fool's
paradise. Nothing comes of the mind which cannot stick. The cure of mind wandering is
control by the Will. The practice here suggested will cure this senseless fault, and at the
same time strengthen the Will itself.
Regime 1.
In reading, always proceed slowly, until you have acquired the power of rapid
comprehension. Select some good sentence for reading. Read it, slowly carefully,
understanding every word. Ten notions have flitted across the field of thought. Resolve to
keep that field clear. Read the sentence again, proceeding as before, and willing intensely
to hold to its thought and nothing else. Continue to read that sentence until you can attend
absolutely without a single failure to what it says. When you can read it, with nothing
whatever save its own thought in mind, take your eyes from the page and repeat it, the
thought not the words, in the best possible manner. Your mental action has now
"wandered." Go back and read the sentence again, giving it exclusive attention; then state
in mental words its thought, holding yourself to complete absorption in the matter.
Regime 2.
Continue the above exercise until you can confine the mind to that thought with not the
shadow of another idea. Then proceed with further reading in exactly the same way. You
will not make much progress at the start. Your habit is of long standing, and it will
require great patience and perseverance to destroy it, But the thing can certainly be done.
Remember! For what are you reading at all? Really to read, genuinely to think. Here are
goals which are worth untiring labor and unlimited time. A page a day which the soul
bores its way into is better than a book read carelessly in one hour.

Regime 3.
When about to read, ask yourself : "Why am I to read this matter?" Find that out; then
insist upon getting what you are after. Read the first sentence, and ask: "What did that
sentence mean and say?" Read the sentence until you know and can tell the fact or truth
in your own words. Proceed thus to the close of the first paragraph, and ask: "Exactly
what does this paragraph declare?" Persist in reading the same paragraph until you can
relate its thought. Continue these exercises to the complete mastery of thoughtful reading.
You will find your mind wandering slowly vanishing.
Regime 4.
While engaged in business or other matters, pause frequently to note what you are
thinking about. You will meet with many surprises. Catch yourself indulging some train
of fancy, and then ask: "Has this any value to me? Am I thinking out the matter in which
I am physically engaged, or on which I set out, or am I merely running about in it like a
puppy in a new field? " Keep the mind upon thoughts of value. They need not relate to
death and the judgment; pleasant thoughts are not unlawful. Compel your mind to think,
not only thoughts of value, but in a connected way as well. Stand guard over your own
mind. Dispel every fleeting fancy and uncalled notion not germane to the thing in hand,
as far as possible. Cultivate a reliable and purposeful intellect. Commit the following,
lines to memory, and make the verse a talisman against wandering thoughts.
A wandering mind is like a shooting star
With orbit none, it yields a transient light.
The mind God launched across Creation's bar
Hath His omnipotence, great Reason's might.
GARRULOUSNESS
The majority of people talk too much, often saying nothing, or what is perhaps, the worse
for themselves, uttering words which they afterwards wish had been left unsaid. There
are others who are as uncommunicative as the oyster, and not always, when they open
their mouths, does a pearl fall to your prize. In social life they are fallen logs, against
which the stream of conversation dashes and from which it turns aside in sparkling
agitation. In business they are enigmas, perennial objects of suspicion. They do not, as a
rule, make many friends, although when they do, these stand by to the death.
The opposite class are numerous, and, because they talk too much, are objects of a fellow
feeling among men and are believed to be amenable to improvement. The following rules
will cure garrulousness, if obeyed to the letter.

Regime 1.
At the beginning of each day for, say, three months, run over in your mind all matters that
are of vital importance to your social and business life. You will discover some things
which you ought to keep to yourself. Make an iron clad resolution to reveal them to no
human being. Remember! Remember! Remember! When in conversation with others,
recall that resolution. Remember! yes, remember!!
If you fail during the day, remember! remember! and renew the resolution on the next
day. Stand by it! Carry it in mind every hour. In the evening review your success or
failure, and saturate your thought with condemnation and with fiercer determination to
reform. Do not yield until you can instantly repress any impulse to speak on any subject.
In three months you will be master of your tongue.
Regime 2.
You are using too many words at all times. This fault can be corrected. You must, in
order for improvement, cultivate terseness of speech. Practice every day for a year the
following. This is labor, but the result will amply repay you.
Regime 3.
Think a fairly long statement concerning some object, person or event. You must
deliberately think in words, making an intelligible sentence. Now write it out in full. We
will call this statement "A," Repeat it, attending to your own voice. How does it sound?
Is the sentence the best that you can make? If not, improve it. Now reduce it to its lowest
possible terms as a clear, definite and complete statement. Write it on another sheet of
paper. Repeat it, noting its sound. Then determine to cut it down one third, or even one
half. Persevere until this is done. Write the result on a third sheet of paper. Now compare
the three statements. Compute the percent. of reduction. You will be astonished to
observe the waste of breath and language in your ordinary conversation.
Regime 4.
Resolve to carry out the idea of condensation in all your speech. In the course of a few
months you will discover two things: first, your vocabulary will have become larger and
better, because this effort requires the use of dictionaries and thoughtful practice with
words; secondly, your manner of speaking will have become surprisingly condensed and
intelligent.
Regime 5.
Select further, some author whose style is chaste and condensed. Read his works
carefully, a little every day. Following the rules for memory, commit some of your
author's best sentences and paragraphs. A small book which is a condensation of a larger

one may be used in connection with the preceding suggestion. In time, this practice will,
without any special effort on your part, greatly modify your general style of speech.
Regime 6.
No one will affirm that Carlyle's tumultuous chaos of words is a finished globe of
conventional economy in the matter of language; but this Thunderer has thoughts and is
recognized as a wizard with our mighty English. Read the following, therefore; cut it
deeply into memory, and live in the atmosphere of its suggestion.
The great silent men! Looking around on the noisy inanity of the world, words with little
meaning, actions with little worth, one loves to reflect on the great Empire of Silence.
The noble, silent men, scattered here and there, each in his department; silently thinking,
silently working; whom no Morning Newspaper makes mention of! They are the salt of
the Earth. A country that has none or few of these is in a bad way. Like a forest which
had no roots; which had all turned into leaves and boughs; which must soon wither and
be no forest.
Woe for us if we had nothing but what we can show or speak. Silence, the great Empire
of SILENCE ; higher than the stars; deeper than the Kingdoms of Death! It alone is great;
all else is small."
THOUGHTLESSNESS
This is the habit which causes one to miss his train, forget his wife's message, send an
important letter without signature, rush to keep an engagement an hour late, omit to carry
his pocket book to church, dress for an evening party without a necktie, leave the comb in
her hair. and cry when the house is afire: "Where is the baby." It may and ought to be
cured. The main secret of remedy is, of course, the resolute Will. Every habit which men
confess can be broken, if it be thoroughly willed that the thing must and shall be done.
REGIMES.
1. You should resolve every day until it ceases to be necessary, as soon as you rise,
to remember whatever you ought to remember during that day. It would be better
to so resolve at morning and at noon. At the close of the time limited, you should
recall wherein you have failed, and spend a few moments in deliberate thought on
the folly of this fault.
2. You should ask yourself concerning any particular matter requiring attention:
"Why do I wish to remember this thing: Who will suffer if I fail? Who will be
benefited if I succeed?"
3. You should make up your mind absolutely never to defer what ought to be done at
some time, and may be done immediately. The moment you think of a matter
which you wish to attend to, proceed instantly to do it. If it is impossible at the
time, charge your mind with it again, state why it must be done, and when you

will give it attention. Do it then at almost any cost. You are fixing a habit of
recollection, and this is worth all inconvenience.
4. You should begin now to give your whole mind to whatever you undertake. Do
nothing without full thought. Repeat to yourself : "I know what I am doing and
why. This one thing I do." When the matter is finished, and before you allow
yourself to think of anything else, review it carefully. Is it all complete? Is it
exactly to your satisfaction? If not, go back and do it over again, following the
above directions. This develops the habit of thinking on what you are doing.
5. You should never think of one thing while trying to do another, except in certain
habituated tasks.
6. You should put yourself to inconvenience to make good any carelessness.
7. You should never allow yourself to become excited. Practice daily, for three
months, making a different route which you will follow in going to and returning
from your place of business, and never fail.
8. Determine every Day until unnecessary, to recall, at a certain exact hour, some
particular matter to which you will then attend. Keep the same hour for many
days; then change the hour; continue until you are master in this respect. This will
build up a habit of obeying your own orders.
9. At frequent intervals, during each day until unnecessary, stop all active work, and
recall any particular matter which you ought to have attended to. Then recall any
matter to which you must yet attend. Do not be hurried. Give your whole thought
to these efforts. Immediately make good your negligence.
10. Never trust mere note books for matters which a fair memory ought to retain.
Never trust anything else for dates and important business transactions. Put no
confidence in mnemonics; tie no strings to your fingers; make no associations
(unless of the simplest kind) as helps. Use your Will. Compel yourself to obey
that power.
INDECISION
There are those whose Will power is very good when they have decided what they will
do. But they find it difficult to arrive at decision. They balance the pros and cons to
weariness, and cannot settle the matter in hand. That is to say, they believe themselves to
be engaged as indicated. The truth is, their minds are confused, and it is but vaguely that
they think at all. If this is your habit, that of indecision, you must summon your entire
strength to its destruction. The difficulty is more or less constitutional; nevertheless it
may be overcome.
REGIMES.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Carry always with you a strong sense of resolution.

Cultivate consciousness of self and self possession.
Remember, always where you are and what you are doing.
Under no circumstances permit yourself to become excited or confused. If you
find either of these conditions obtaining, defer the matter until calmness returns. If
it cannot be deferred, summons tremendous Will; remember, "I must be calm!"

and decide as best you can. At the next emergency profit by this experience. But
waste no energy in useless reviews of mistakes. Store away the mood of coolness
for future use.
5. Learn to think of but one thing at a time, When engaged with any matter, put the
whole mind upon that alone.
6. Make the difficulty and discomfort of indecision cause for immediate resolution.
7. When in doubt attend to motives singly. Think of one at a time clearly and
forcibly. Do not become distracted by many considerations. In examining motives
force a vivid conception of each, and then of all together. Then rapidly review all
reasons, for and against, as nearly at once as possible. Then act! Decide! Take
some chances. All men must do so more or less. Waste no time with consequent
regrets.
8. For at least three months resolve every morning as to how you will dress. Do this
quickly. Fix the exact order of procedure. Adhere strictly to your plan. Never
yield; never Hesitate. Dress as rapidly as possible. Vary the order each day, as far
as may be done with your combination.
9. Resolve, when you start for your office, or any objective point, that you will keep
in mind what you are doing until you arrive. Do not plan the way at the start.
Proceed on your way; think that you are going; at the first opportunity for varying
the course, pause an instant, think of reasons for one way or another, and
immediately decide to take this car or to follow that street; at the next opportunity,
repeat the process. Continue until facility in quick decision in the matter is
acquired.
10. You should cultivate the habit of acting in a rapid, energetic manner. Do
everything you undertake with keen thought and a strong feeling of power.
11. You should above all learn promptness. Meet every engagement on the minute.
Fulfill each duty exactly on time. Never dawdle in any matter. Be decisive in all
things.
12. In addition to hours and dates ordinarily fixed in your life, make many artificial
resolutions relating to tune and manner, and religiously carry them out to the
letter. Keep forever in mind the necessity of promptness, energy, quickness of
action, strength of Will.
WANT OF OPINION
The fundamental difficulty here is lack of thought. People who think, have opinions.
Thought can be cultivated only by exercise of Will, and in three ways: by forced efforts,
which require Will; by reading, which requires intelligent comprehension, and by
observation, which requires attention.
REGIMES.
1. You do not observe keenly and clearly what is going on about you. You should
resolve and instantly begin to see things. It is a great art, that of seeing correctly.
The wise man is he who sees what other people are merely looking at. You should
determine to see things as they are, This means that you are to find out what they

are. You can begin upon any common object: the ground; the grass; household
furniture. After a time you will become interested, and you will then find yourself
thinking. Then you will have opinions, because you will believe or know many
matters.
2. You need to discover wherein you are ignorant. That will be comparatively easy.
Then you must set about finding all that you can discover upon some particular
subject. Look around; ask questions; read papers, magazines, books. Keep the end
in view, to know this subject to the bottom. Do not allow yourself to be diverted
from this purpose. Become a walking encyclopedia on this one thing. When you
have exhausted the matter as far as possible, you will possess genuine opinions.
And you will then be eager to take another subject, and will follow it to the last
farthing of value. The result will be, more opinions.
3. In the meantime, you will have discovered the luxury of intelligent opinions, and
of the habit of forming your own. People accept the opinions of others because
they are aware of their own ignorance. So soon as they become themselves
informed, they decline this sort of superiority. Want of opinion and want of
knowledge are equivalent. The latter is the sole right remedy for the former. But
there is no cure for want of brains. Without brains, so called opinions are fools'
quips, At the brainless person Nature wrings her helpless hands. It is a finality of
despair.
OPINIONATIVENESS
This habit is the outcome of a stubborn Will exercised by a blind soul. The opinionated
man sees himself only. His Volitions are not so much strong and active as set and inert.
The Will is here more or less diseased, because the self has no proper outlook upon life.
The self supposes that it understands things, events and persons, but its real
understanding is vague and partial. Could it know more, it would arrive at different
views. It looks at the silver side of the shield; it ought to discover the other side; but it
cannot do this. Certain aspects of events are presented; it cannot penetrate to additional
phases. Views of people give it notions which are not real ideas because true motives of
conduct are hidden.
The opinionated person is usually wrong. As woman depends largely upon intuitions,
when she betrays the fault here under consideration it is well nigh incurable, for intuitions
are not amenable to reason. They are divine when right, but the despair of man when
wrong. The difficulty here lies in the fact that the opinionated soul views all things
through itself, and magnifies its own personality to enormous proportions. It is ruled by
subjective conditions which shut out the relations and perspective of the world.
Who ne'er concedes the law of truth,
That truth transcends his mind,
Mistakes himself for God, and, sooth,

With open eyes-stands blind

His soul a world, great "views" he spawns,
While humans laugh and Nature yawns.
Such a conception of self can only be corrected by a true realization of the personality of
other people. There are those who never actually appreciate the fact that their fellows are
genuine existences. To them human beings are little more than phantoms, presenting
various insubstantial phenomena of life; they are never bona-fide persons possessed of
hearts and brains, and engaged in concrete realities. Why should phantoms have
opinions? Themselves are real; themselves discover reasons for views; themselves are
therefore entitled to opinions. This right is not universal because other minds are not by
them apprehended as actual.
Hence the remedy for this species of "insanity " must go to the root of the difficulty.
These people must learn to realize their fellows. If the habit of opinionativeness is to be
cured, humanity must be made concrete and real in thought.
In order to this, let the following suggestions be practiced during life. After death your
happiness will largely depend upon your power to concede to your fellows a legitimate
place in the universe.
REGIMES.
1. Select one of your friends or acquaintances, and study that soul with no reference
whatever to yourself. Learn his ways, his sentiments and emotions, his thoughts
and motives. No matter whether these elements of his life are proper or improper,
right or wrong; you are not to sit in judgment upon him, but merely to become
thoroughly acquainted with his nature and character. In time you will discover
that he thinks he has various reasons for his opinions, which you are not to
condemn, because that is not the thing in hand, but which you are vividly to
realize as facts in his life. Above all, you will gradually find yourself thinking of
him as a real being in a real body and engaged in a real life.
2. Continue this study with reference to other people about you, until you have
formed the habit of feeling thoroughly the fact that you are dealing with living
men and women.
3. When you have ceased to think of them as phantoms, a curious thing will occur;
you will regard some of your old time opinions as more or less confused,
inadequate and baseless.
4. At all times you should remember with whom you are coming in contact. If your
idea of human life is justifiable, you need look upon no one as your inferior.
Many people may be so, indeed, but it isn't worth while considering. You have,
perhaps, been accustomed to deference and obedience from your employees. Such
a relation demands politeness on your part for the sake of your own dignity.

The person who is not polite to servants surrenders moral values. Yet politeness is
merely the veneer of the Golden Rule. That rule, in all respects, should be
practiced toward those with whom you deal. When it governs a man's life, the
"maid," the "man," the employee comes to be regarded as a human being in an
exalted sense. Such an habitual regard transfers from the ranks of servants to
those of fellows. You have fallen into the habit of hurling your opinions at people
to whom you pay no wages because you have had authority over those who
receive the means of living at your hands. Were you to look upon your "help" as
real beings, sensitive and possessed of rights, you would not arrogate to your
opinions sole legality and exclusive value. Whatever you do as to "hands," you do
not own the rest of man kind. It is not "good policy" to forget this trifling fact,
5. You should forever strive exactly to understand opinions opposite to your own.
You cannot thrust them aside as wrong unless you know what they really are. The
opinionated person seldom understands what he contradicts. A thorough
knowledge of another man's thought will bring you nearer to him, and your ideas,
being then compared with his, will probably not seem so huge and so
unquestionably correct.
6. The study of opposite opinions involves the study of reasons. There is a
possibility that, when you fully discover another person's reasons for opinions,
your own reasons may undergo some alteration. It would diminish your
infallibility if you could see the force with which reasons other than your own
make for differing views.
7. You should occasionally recall your errors in judgment. It may be ventured with
some assurance that you will be able to recollect at least one such error. If once in
error, possibly many times. Burn that into your soul.
8. You should also recall the mistakes of your life. You have thus suffered injury. If
you can write this on the retina of your eye, perhaps you may reform a little of
your cocksure attitude. Some of your mistakes have injured others. If you do not
care about this, close the present book and "gang your ain gait." The pigpen has
one remedy, fire and the sword.

CONCLUSION OF PART IV

In conclusion of the two preceding chapters, it would be well for every person
occasionally to submit to self examination as to the reign of habits, whether immoral or
otherwise. Beware of the "devil's palsy of self approbation." Let a list of personal faults
be carefully and deliberately made. They should be scrutinized severely to ascertain their
power and results. Then resolve to destroy them, root and branch. Begin at once. Carry
the list with you. Frequently read it. Determine, again and again, to be rid of them. Give
each a definite time for extirpation. Preserve a record of success and failure in this
respect, Read this at the close of each day of battle. Continue until free.
Meanwhile, in all things, cultivate the resolute, conquering Mood of Will. You can be
free!
RESOLVE! "ATTENTION TO THE KING ON HIS THRONE!"

Contact with Other People

The Will in Public Speaking

While engaged in the composition of my 'Elements of Chemistry,' I perceived, better than

I had ever done before, the truth of an observation of Condillac, that we think only
through the medium of words; and that languages are true analytic methods, The art of
reasoning is nothing more than a language well arranged."- Lavoisier.
"In a thousand emergencies men have been obliged to act with quickness, and, at the
same time, with caution; in other words, to examine subjects, and to do it with
expedition. The consequence of this is, that the numerous minute circumstances, involved
more or less in all subjects of difficult inquiry, are passed in review with such rapidity,
and are made in so small a degree the objects of separate attention:, that they vanish and
are forgotten."--- Professor Upham.
The design of this chapter is suggestive only to the author's elaborate and practical work,
"Power For Success." Power of Will is here the central consideration, and the following
pages have mainly to do with that factor. The chief difficulties of public speaking relate
to thought, language and imagination, Those who lack one or the other of these talents
can, therefore, never acquire the art. But such talents may exist without discovery, merely
requiring proper cultivation. And the word "talent " must not be exaggerated. It is not
necessary to possess great abilities in order to speak well before others. Many who would
probably fail in presence of an audiences express themselves with clearness, and
sometimes with eloquence, in ordinary conversation.
The difference between conversation and public speaking is largely the power of
sustained effort. As Professor George H. Palmer remarks: "Talking moves in sentences,
and rarely demands a paragraph. I make my little remark, a dozen or two words, then
wait for my friend to hand me back as many more. The brief grouping of words which we
make up in our talk furnish capital practice in precision, boldness, and variety; but they
do not contain room enough for exercising our constructive faculties." The constructive
faculties must therefore be cultivated. Any person of average brains can acquire thought
and extend his vocabulary; and if he has persistent determination and opportunity, can
force his ideas to put on the orderly clothing of vocal utterance.
REGIMES.
1. Acquiring Thought. Brains count immensely in this matter. Your first source of
trouble consists in a lack of sufficient thought. For this deficiency there is but one
practical remedy. You should read, study, think, for the purpose of accumulating
facts, acquiring opinions, furnishing the mind with thought. It is not enough to
have ideas; these must be woven into some actual fabric by real thinking. When

you know and think on any given subject, you can talk about it before an
audience, other things being equal.
2. Developing Language. But other things seldom are equal, Hence, the next
difficulty consists in a lack of language. You should first of all, now, accumulate
a good stock of words, words as the raw material of expression. If you are
pursuing the directions previously suggested as to attention in reading and
development of the power of thought, you are storing up in memory many words
which are not heard in the average conversation.
You should make it your business to enlarge your vocabulary by a large number
of unpretentious and sober minded words. In order to this, while accumulating
thought, keep a good dictionary convenient for reference, and permit no word
which you do not clearly understand to escape your zeal as collector. But avoid as
much as possible odd words, long words, pedantic words.
3. Exercising Expression. Meanwhile you should seize every opportunity for
practicing the art of expression. Begin with everyday conversation. Refer to
directions as to hesitation and exaggeration. Do not try to talk like a magazine
article. Avoid the stilted style as strenuously as the slovenly. Above all, study and
strive for natural, easy expression.
At the same time you must employ your enriched store of words in the utterance
of your increased fund of thought. This demands courage and Will. "We fall into
the way of thinking that the wealthy words are for others, and that they do not
belong to us." "When we use a word for the first time we are startled, as if a
firecracker went off in our neighborhood. We look about hastily to see if any one
has noticed. But finding that no one has, we may be emboldened. A word used
three times slips off the tongue with entire naturalness. Then it is ours forever, and
with it some phase of life which had been lacking hitherto." You should cultivate,
therefore, the courage of a speech which is unusual to some of your circles. But
always should you hold in mind the effort to state with freedom the exact truth or
fact in the least redundant manner. Make this a goal, never for a moment to be
forgotten.
4. Mental Speaking. In the next place, you should practice thinking in terms of
words. Do not be content with mere notions about things. Think matters out
verbally. When alone, think a sentence through. and then speak it aloud. Proceed
immediately to improve the statement. Go on with another related thought; work
it out mentally in words; then repeat and improve, as before. Become accustomed
to your own voice under conscious conditions. In public speaking you are
conscious of your own voice and gesture, and this disturbs you. You should cease
to be aware of self before an audience. To do so, you should become perfectly
familiar with yourself in the labor of preparation.
5. The Plow of Mental Word Using. Vary the above frequently by thinking your way
through an entire subject without the practice of speaking. Do not be content with
supposing that you know an item or phase of the subject well enough. and may

therefore pass it by. You will often be surprised to discover in public speaking
that the thing has suddenly become as dense as granite, and at that point you will
hesitate and lose control of your thought. Let this be a rigid rule in all your
preparation: Plow up every inch of ground by the actual use in mind of words put
together to express your thought as you wish to deliver it on the public occasion.
But do not try to memorize the words employed in preparatory thinking. This
would unsettle your public thinking and rob your speech of ease, vivacity and
force. There is a dangerous middle between memoriter speaking and prepared
extemporaneous utterance; the mind labors to recall words not thoroughly
memorized, and at the same time, strives for the freedom of the moment, and it
thus lacks the exactness of the one thing and the force of the other. Think in
words to prepare, but memorize nothing except the thought. Recollection of
thought, however, must follow as a result of your labor in thinking, and especially
of some sort of logical association, rather than of deliberate effort to commit to
memory.
6. Making Connecting Links. It may be well to fasten in the mind a few catch words,
or connecting links, which come up naturally in thought, as a means of guidance
when before an audience. But it is better, after all, to make your arrangement of
thought such that, to yourself at least, one thing suggests another. Nevertheless,
you should, in preparation, look well to your connections and transitions.
Frequently one paragraph follows another naturally enough, but you find
difficulty in letting go of one and in getting into the other. This is because you
have not thought your way through the transitions, and you do not on the spur of
the moment know how to do it. Make sure, then, before you begin to speak, that
you are familiar with the links between thoughts and paragraphs.
7. Actual Practice. Seize every opportunity for public speaking that comes in your
way. Practice in prepared utterance will be of invaluable service to you. Be
equally on the alert for opportunities to speak on the spur of the moment. Resolve
to learn to think on your feet with your voice in your ears.
8. Cultivating Imagination. A further difficulty relates to the imagination You
should cultivate this faculty, according to directions given for that purpose. You
have now an opportunity for its exercise, Professor Palmer well says: "Most of us
are grievously lacking in imagination, which is the ability to go outside of
ourselves and take on the conditions of another mind."
In your plowing up process of thought you should strive always to perceive in the
mind every detail on which you are to speak. You must not only think matters out
in words, but also realize all your subjects of discussion. If truth, feel it; if love,
experience it; if joy, possess its emotions; and thus with all elements of the thing
in hand, except evil.
9. Working up Illustration. This rule is especially applicable to illustrations. Do not
try to talk about an incident in life without becoming part of it, without seeing it
clearly and vividly. But you must not be content with such a realization of the
incident, can you relate it? You are to think it all out, not to memorize, but to
assure yourself that you have the ability to describe it as seen in mind. Do not be

content with a vague picture of nature, but call up before the mind all necessary
details and state them in words. Only thus may you know that you can describe
that scene. When you have gotten it clearly into language, determine what salient
points you will suggest to your audience. Avoid the photographic style; remember
that those to whom you are speaking possess some imagination; they resent an
opposite assumption; they delight in painting, with lightning strokes, a reality
which you have merely sketched.
These suggestions as to thought preparation in words may be illustrated in the
following manner Let us suppose your audience to be a woodland lake, with
various objects upon its surface, such as leaves, twigs, pieces of bark, etc. You
wish to set its surface in motion, in waves and ripples, by striking one of these
objects here and there. But you have no materials with which to do this.
The shore is a clean slope of sand, and not a throwable thing upon it. You
therefore gather such material from any distant source, making a mound ready for
use. Now, you have not said: "This stone I gather for the purpose of hurling in a
certain direction; that piece of bark to toss upon a given leaf; and that clump of
soil to cause a particular kind of wave," You do not arrange these details
beforehand. You gather abundance of material, with a given general purpose in
view. You then manipulate that material in the manner best adapted to the end
sought, leaving particulars to be determined by the demands of the occasion.
Observe. In thought preparation for public speaking, you are not to memorize in
any arbitrary way; you are simply to assure yourself that you know and can
express thought on a given subject. On the public occasion you find thought and
language ready for use because you have gathered them and they are separated
from surrounding materials, loosely placed, so to speak, for instant employment.
Many speakers cease preparation with a general outline of the subject in hand.
This is slovenliness, and they fail of reaching the highest mark of eloquence
because they are poor in material. As a matter of fact they have at that point
merely gotten ready for honest, hard work in preparatory thinking. Make sure,
therefore, of details, look well to your illustrations, have a care for the
connections, and, above all, fill the mind with abundance of thought which has
been thoroughly cast into words and sentences.
"When Nestor stood before the Greek generals and counseled attack upon Troy,
he said: 'The secret of victory is in getting a good ready.' Wendell Phillips was
once asked how he acquired his skill in the oratory of the Lost Arts. The answer
was: 'By getting a hundred nights of delivery back of me.'"
10. Overcoming Stage-Fright. The difficulty which seems most prevalent, however, is
that of fear of the audience. Here is a curious thing. You are not afraid of any
particular individual in the audience, perhaps, but the multitude of ordinary men
and women shortens your breath, causes your heart to pound in your breast, and

dries up the secretions of your mouth, till you are compelled to fashion words, as
it were, out of raw cotton.
The difficulty is threefold.
First, you do not become familiar with your audience prior to facing it. You must
keep it and the coming occasion constantly in mind while making preparation.
See that crowd of people, here and now; see it clearly and vividly, Then think out
your subject in words addressed mentally to that sea of upturned faces. Remember
forever that you don't look half as much frightened as you are; that the people do
not gaze into your skull; that if you fling in a word with meaningless desperation
now and then they will not, ninety nine cases in the hundred, know the fact; and
that, if you do not absolutely fail and fall flat (and you will not if you fiercely will
otherwise), you will be doing vastly better than seventy five per cent. of your
auditors could do.
Secondly, you are not in good practice. You must avail yourself of every
opportunity for public speaking. The more difficult the occasion the better. Never
let a chance slip. Forefend against surprises by preparing for all occasions
wherein you may he called out or secure the floor. Don't be a bore, if it is possible
to avoid it; but, continue this practice, whether or no. Whenever you fail, laugh
the discomfiture off, people will not remember it forever, and seize the next
opportunity. Discover why you failed, and profit by experience. Analyze your
success, and make sure of your forte. Follow with the persistence of the foxhound
the determination to win.
Thirdly, you are lacking in good Will power. You must summons Will to the
mastery of all difficulties. Changeless resolution is necessary in all preparation.
This is merely a matter of sticking to a purpose. But the latter does not exhaust the
difficulties. You suppose yourself ready for the trial, and, in a sense, you are. It is
in the concrete act of speaking that your trouble begins. You are afraid of man.
Your Will suddenly becomes flabby, your force of spirit evaporates, and you
cannot command your preparation. At this point bull dog determination is
required. Do not deserve defeat before uttering a word. Don't permit a feeling of
collapse at the start. Put Will at the fore. Mentally defy the entire crowd. Fetch up
all the egotism you possess. Fiercely challenge all foes. Keep cool at the outset.
Take time to get a good sendoff, it is your occasion. Put your thought into
carefully chosen words; be in no hurry; proceed with deliberation enough to gain
self control and keep it. If you get on the track nicely, you will warm up after a
little, and your audience will come to your assistance.
Look the people straight in the eyes. Will to stand to it then and there. Will to
keep your mental vision on a thought ahead. Resolutely appropriate the occasion
as your own, and willfully use it as such. If the right word fails you, throw in
another as nearly right as may be, or as meaningless as printers' "pie." If any one

looks weary, ignore that person as an imbecile. Cleave to the friendly face, though
it be that of a fool.
Remember, everybody desires that you should do well, for an audience suffers
under a public collapse. Believe that fact. Keep faith in yourself. Storm the
situation. Resolve to win on the spot.
If you are called upon to speak at a late hour, when the people are weary and your
enthusiasm is low - don't speak.
11. Confidence in Audience. Both in preparation and in delivery, the speaker should
have confidence in and respect for his audience. Austin Phelps, Professor of
Sacred Rhetoric in Andover Theological Seminary, wrote: "When President
Lincoln was once inquired of what was the secret of his success as a popular
debater, he replied, 'I always assume that my audience are in many things wiser
than I am, and I say the most sensible thing I can to them.' Two things here were
all that Mr. Lincoln was conscious of, respect for the intellect of his audience, and
the effort to say the most sensible thing. He could not know how these two things
affected the respect of his audience for him, their trust in him as their superior,
and their inclination to obey him on the instant when they felt the magnetism of
his voice. But he saw that, say what he might in that mood, he got a hearing, he
was understood, he was obeyed."
12. Courage. The mind that would influence others by public speech must be fearless.
In the author's work "The Culture of Courage," will be found practical directions
for the development of a courageous spirit. Said the Emperor of Austria to Baron
Wesselenyi, a Hungarian patriot, "Take care, Baron Wesselenyi, take care what
you are about. Recollect that many of your family have been unfortunate."
"Unfortunate, your majesty, they have been, but ever undeserving of their
misfortunes." And the Baron would not apologize for this bold defense of his
family's honor, even when attacked by his sovereign.
13. Profound Convictions. If you have great feeling in the beliefs you present, you
inspire others with at least similar emotions. Could anything be more effective
than the following from Louis Kossuth's description of his own appeal to his
people:
"Reluctant to present the neck of the realm to the deadly stroke which aimed at its
very life, and anxious to bear up against the horrors of fate, and manfully to fight
the battle of legitimate defense, scarcely had I spoken the word, scarcely had I
added that the defense would require 200,000 men, and 80,000,000 of florins,
when the spirit of freedom moved through the hall, and nearly 400 representatives
rose as one man, and lifting their right arms towards God, solemnly said, 'We
grant it, freedom or death!'
Thus they spoke, and there they stood in calm and silent majesty, awaiting what
further word might fall from my lips. And for myself; it was my duty to speak, but
the grandeur of the moment and the rushing waves of sentiment benumbed any

tongue. A burning tear fell from my eyes, a sigh of adoration to the Almighty
Lord fluttered on my lips; and, bowing low before the majesty of any people, as I
bow now before you, gentlemen, I left the tribunal silently, speechless, mute.
Pardon me my emotion, the shadows of our martyrs passed before my eyes; I
heard the millions of my native land once more shouting 'liberty or death!'"
14. Holding the Audience.
A popular instructor in public speaking, Grenville Klieser says on this subject:
"A public speaker should cultivate a conversational style of address. The day of
stilted and bombastic oratory is passed. Audiences like and demand the most
direct kind of speaking possible. A speaker of real power must learn to emphasize
his important thoughts, not by mere loudness of voice, nodding of the head, or
slapping the hands loudly together, but rather by inflection, change of pitch,
judicious pausing, and by other intellectual means. The successful speaker should
have force in his style. Not merely the force of loudness, but the force of
earnestness and sincerity. It is the power behind the man that makes for effective
oratory, the power 'speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing
every feature, and urging the whole man onward, right onward to his object."'
You can make your every day affairs, your contact with individuals or with
groups, precisely the training ground you seek for acquiring this power to hold
men while you are addressing them.
In the entire subject, from first to last, keep at the fore the strong Mood of Will,
the sense of resolute personality. hold the mind steadily upon the motto of these
pages:
"I RESOLVE TO WILL! ATTENTION. !!"

Control Of Others
If you would work on any man, you must either know his nature and fashions, and so
lead him; or his ends, and so persuade him; or his weaknesses and disadvantages, and so
awe him; or those that have interest in him, and so govern him," - Francis Bacon.
The preceding directions and illustrations relate to the control of one's self. Will power is
constantly shown to embrace others as well. Here is one of the most interesting of
modern subjects of inquiry.
This chapter deals with plain matters. Its subject will be treated further in the volume on
"The Personal Atmosphere," There are many things in our life that are not elucidated by
what some are pleased to call "Common Sense," and these will in part appear in the
discussion of that work.
At the outset we may observe certain broad principles. Without exception, these
principles are possible to the large and determined Will. According to your Will faith, so
be it!
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
First Principle - Belief.
Genuine belief in the thing in hand makes mightily for success in the contact will others.
Said Emerson: "I have heard an experienced counselor say, that he never feared the effect
upon a jury of a lawyer who does not believe in his heart that his client ought to have a
verdict. If he does not believe it, his unbelief will appear to the jury, despite all his
protestations, and will become their unbelief. This is that law whereby a work of art, of
whatever kind, sets us in the same state of mind wherein the artist was when he made it.
That which we do not believe, we cannot adequately say though we may repeat the words
never so often. It was this conviction which Swedenborg expressed, when he described a
group of persons in the spiritual world endeavoring in vain to articulate a proposition
which they did not believe; but they could not, though they twisted and folded their lips
even to indignation."
Second Principle. - Confidence.
A prime element in personal influence is confidence, Pizarro, the Spanish adventurer, left
with one vessel and a few followers on the island of Gallo, where the greatest dangers
and suffering had been endured, was offered relief by an expedition from Panama.
Drawing his sword, he traced a line with it on the sand from east to west. Then, turning
towards the south, 'Friends and comrades!' he said, 'on that side are toil, hunger,
nakedness, the drenching storm, desertion and death; on this side, ease and pleasure.
There lies Peru with its riches; here Panama and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best

becomes a brave Castilian. For my part, I go to the south.' So saying, he stepped across
the line," And they followed him.
Third Principle --- Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm is also a large factor in the matter. Samuel Smiles wrote very
practically; "There is a contagiousness in every example of energetic conduct.
The brave man is an inspiration to the weak, and compels them, as it were, to
follow him. Thus Napier relates that at the combat of Vera, when the Spanish
center was broken and in flight, a young officer, named Havelock, sprang
forward, and, waving his hat, called upon the Spaniards to follow him. Putting
spurs to his horse, he leaped the abattis which protected the French front, and
went headlong against them. The Spaniards were electrified; in a moment they
dashed after him, cheering for, El chico blanco!, (the fair boy), and with one
shock they broke through the French and sent them flying down hill."
Fourth Principle - Self Mastery.
Hence the secret of a large control of others is found in the moral mastery of self. It has
been well written: " Keep cool, and you command everybody."
A recent author quotes a good remark of Clarendon, who said of Hampden. "He was
supreme governor over his passions, and he had thereby great power over other men's."
Man may be controlled in an ignoble way by studying and ministering to his weaknesses,
but a noble use of self mastery has sublime privilege in exerting good influence over the
weak spot and the foible of humanity. In either instance the strong man is that one whose
Will is steady and purposeful. Sooner or later, however, men discover their degradation
in manipulated weakness and, resenting the imposition, throw off the yoke, whenever the
motive of fear ceases to restrain them.
Fifth Principle - Motives.
The character of man's influence over his fellows depends upon the motives which he
suggests for their action. One may dominate multitudes by fear. Nero ruled Rome as a
buffoon and a madman. Or, love may become the controlling force in personal loyalty,
Jesus swayed thousands by the inspiration of His Divine goodness.
In the one case influence is coercion, ceasing so soon as fear disappears, or assuming
such power as to break in desperation with its own dictates; in the other case motives of
fidelity are multiplied, and they become stronger as love's gracious spell continues.
Sixth Principle -- Insight.
The control of others demands ability to penetrate their motives and discover their plans.
Of Mirabeau it was said: "It was by the same instinctive penetration that Mirabeau so
easily detected the feelings of the assembly, and so often embarrassed his opponents by

revealing their secret motives, and laying open that which they were most anxious to
conceal. There seemed to exist no political enigma which he could not solve. He came at
once to the most intimate secrets, and his sagacity alone was of more use to him than a
multitude of spies in the enemy's camp. He detected in a moment every shade of
character; and, to express the result of his observations, he had invented a language
scarcely intelligible to any one but himself; had terms to indicate fractions of talents,
qualities, virtues, or vices, halves and quarters, and, at a glance, he could perceive every
real or apparent contradiction. No form of vanity, disguised ambition, or tortuous
proceedings could escape his penetration; but he could also perceive good qualities, and
no man had a higher esteem for energetic and virtuous characters." This ability may be
successfully cultivated.
Seventh Principle -- Cooperation.
Permanent influence over others flows from the enlistment of their strength. The
supremest individual power in this respect is gauged by the pleasure which it offers as
inducement to surrender, or by the sense of right to which appeal is made for alliance, or
by suggestion of highest self interest as a reason for loyalty. The best rule in the control
of others is the Golden Rule. In the long run, life reciprocates with those who do unto
others as they would that others should do unto them. That power of Will which can
compel one to be polite, considerate, patient, helpful, luminously cheerful, is sure to cast
a large and agreeable spell upon our fellows.
It is not to be understood that these suggestions seek to put a premium upon what is
called "policy." Men are not all selfishness. There is a divine reason in humanity which
makes it amenable to the kingly sway of sincerity, reality and righteousness. Not a few
individuals in high positions today there are whose chief capital is their unblemished
manliness. The native vigor of downright honesty creates a current of attraction which it
is hard to resist. The people put faith in Grant, because, no doubt, of manifest ability, but
also for the reason that they saw in the silent commander an actual man. When a soul
succeeds in convincing others that it is genuinely possessed by an eternal truth or
principle, the Infinite steps in and accords him a public coronation as leader.
Saul among the Jews was simply fantastic; David was a real argument for a king and a
throne. Stephen A. Douglas, with culture and political machinery behind him, was no
match for Lincoln, because in this man burned the unquenchable fires which blazed in the
heart of the North. It was the "Little Giant" against "Honest Old Abe" and the great
slavery hating States. Here the Will, that years before had shaken its clenched fist at the
"Institution," rose to grandeur and assumed the robes of prophet and deliverer.
Eighth Principle -- Will Power.
The resolute Will is leader by Nature's choice. If itself is throned in righteousness, its
sway is certain and permanent, in a modified sense at times, to be sure, but not
infrequently with limits outlasting the span of its possessor's life.

Cromwell's Will made him "Ironsides." William of Orange competed with the subtlety,
patience and tireless pertinacity of Philip the Second, and won a lasting influence which
the Spanish king could not destroy by power of wealth, position or ecclesiastical backing.
These historic dramas are huge representations of smaller affairs in every community. In
the fullest sense, a strong Will for control of others is a right Will.
Yet it seems true that not all such control is explicable on the theory of plain means and
methods. What is the secret of the power which cowes the wild beast, compelling its eye
to wander from the steady gaze of man? What bows the stubborn purpose of the would be
criminal when confronted by the resolute fearless gaze of his victim. "in that deadly
Indian hug in which men wrestle with eyes"? What maintains the mastery of family,
school, prison, when some quiet spirit walks among their inmates? It is not always fear,
for his punishments may not be unduly severe. It is not always love, for he sometimes
fails to inspire affection. It is personality centered in unyielding Will power. Other
elements of explanation are frequently possible, but there are dominant minds whose only
explanation is themselves.
Mirabeau, speaking at Marseilles, was called "alumniator, liar, assassin, scoundrel." He
said, "I wait, Messieurs, till these amenities be exhausted." The Will of Mirabeau was
phenomenal. "His whole person gave you the idea of an irregular power, but a power
such as you would figure as a Tribune of the People."
Of Wellington, Victor Hugo remarked: "The battle of Waterloo was won by a captain of
the second class." But, Hugo, who set out to be the greatest man of his time, and who
wrote the greatest work of prose fiction that has been produced for an hundred years, was
here biased by the Napoleonic tradition. Wellington's campaigns were skillfully planned
and carried out with a pertinacious patience calculated to wear to shreds the hostilities of
many Bonapartes. When asked, during Waterloo, what should be done in case of his
death, he replied: "Do as I am doing."
Here was the culmination of that spirit which could say to a madman coming into his
presence with the remark, "I am sent to kill you," "Kill me? Very odd." In such men the
static Will exhibits the Gibraltar on which mind is fortified in action. It is a power
seemingly capable of achievements by means that are superior to ordinary appeals. It
discharges, as it may be said, like a battery, either to overwhelm or to win, by sheer
resolution. Unseen, without gesture, it speaks: "I am your master. I claim you for my
friendship, my following, my uses." And the thing is even so.
The phenomena of hypnotism are familiar. It is now distinctly asserted that "no one can
be hypnotized against his Will; no one can be hypnotized unless he complies with certain
conditions and does his part to bring about the subjective state. To be hypnotized in no
respect shows a weakness; weak minded people (contrary to the opinion of some) do not
make good sensitives; the most susceptible subjects are intelligent people having strong
minds and Will power, with the ability to maintain a certain passivity as to results;

hypnotism is not a conflict of Will powers in which the stronger overcomes the weaker.
The person hypnotized may have a very much stronger Will than the operator."
Hypnotism thus seems to depend largely at least upon prearranged conditions. But here is
the secret of "personal magnetism." One is truly magnetic who establishes the best
condition of mind among those with whom he comes in contact.
Here arises the necessity for a good personal address, a right personal atmosphere, a
plausibility of argument, dexterity in avoiding disagreeable matters, the ability to present
pleasing motives for action by others, and qualifications of the like kind. The real secrets
of results of "personal magnetism " are to be found not only in yourself, but as well in the
"other fellow"; if you can readily make him feel as you feel and think as you think,
without suggesting the fact to him that you are doing so, you are "magnetic."
Hence the precepts of average social and business success, together with indomitable
Will not to lose control of self and forever to keep success in mind, constitute a source of
real personal magnetism which has its illustrations everywhere in our life. "Every thought
created by our mind is a force of greater or lesser intensity, varying in strength according
to the impetus imparted to it at the time of its creation."
SUGGESTIONS
The great subject of personal magnetism is elaborately and practically set forth in the
author's work, "Power for Success," to which the student is referred.
Control of Others
If you will make the following suggestions a part of your working capital, you are on the
highway of agreeable and satisfactory relations with your fellows. Though the matter
seems simple enough in theory, it will tax your perseverance to the utmost to carry it out
to practical results
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Never show temper.

Never betray envy or jealousy.
Indulge in no sarcasms.
Keep unpleasant opinions to yourself.
Tell no man an uncomfortable truth, if this can with honesty be avoided, and
make sure that you disclose the motive of a well wisher if you must utter the facts.
Make no remark about others which you would not instantly make in their
presence.
Make no remark about others which you must know will, if instantly reported to
them, cause enmity against you or injure their interests.
Never criticize to a man his wife, to a wife her husband, to a parent the child, to
the child its parent, nor to any person a relative or friend.
When conversing with others make sure with whom you are talking in these
respects, and in regard to all social, business, political and religious matters.

10. Never make a joke that hurts any one present or absent.
11. Never relate anything which might not with propriety be repeated to a lady just
introduced to you.
12. Make no promise without knowing that you can fulfill it. Then fail not.
13. Make your word good promptly. If you cannot, explain to the person involved.
14. Never dodge a creditor.
15. Don't be a bore.
16. Ride your hobby in the back yard.
17. Permit other people to have views.
18. See things as they are; tell them as you see them, when good sense and kindness
allow.
19. Put a heart into your handshake.
20. Be as courteous to "low " as to "high."
21. Be considerate of the rights and feelings of others. How about your barking dog?
your thrumming piano? your lusty boy?
22. Carry the Golden Rule on your sleeve.
23. Never rub a man the wrong way.
24. Never contradict an irritated person.
25. Never get into an argument in a parlor nor on the street.
26. Never ridicule a man's pet theory nor a woman's foible.
27. Never ridicule a person's walk, dress, habit, speech.
28. Never laugh at weakness.
29. Permit yourself to sneer at nothing. The sneer is the devil's laugh.
30. Never hold any one in contempt. At least conceal the feeling like a death's-head.
31. Never order people about. Your clerk is no dog,
32. Be absolutely honest everywhere.
33. Be gracious and accommodating.
34. Cultivate generosity of pocket and of thought,
35. On sixty dollars a month don't browbeat the people. You are only a ticket agent, a
steamboat purser, a hotel clerk, a bank teller. Not much, after all, if you are to
treat the public as though you were a lord. A good deal if you are decent.
36. Don't stalk along the street as though you were superfine, angelic, distilled
wonder of imperial blue blood. You are exceedingly lovely, to be sure; yet: just a
woman, bones, fat, blood, nerves, weaknesses and blunders, like the rest of
womankind.
37. Never antagonize others unless principle demands. And then, hold the purpose in
view, "To win, not to alienate."
38. Never pass judgment upon others without first mentally "putting; yourself in his
place."
39. Never utter that judgment unless you are convinced that this will accomplish
some good or satisfy the reasonable demands of a definite principle.
40. Never permit your general opinion of a person to blind you to his good qualities.
41. In discussions, never interrupt a speaker, nor talk in a loud tone of voice. If you
cannot speak without interruption, go away, or keep silence. One who will not
hear your views is not worth the trouble of excited conversation.
42. Preface all statement of difference of opinion with a conciliatory word.

43. Never insist upon doing business with a person who evidently does not wish to
see you, unless you are a policeman, a sheriff, a tax collector, a lawyer's clerk, a
physician or a messenger of death.
44. If your man is busy, yet makes an effort to be polite, get out of his presence as
quickly and pleasantly as possible. Go again when he feels better.
45. Don't try to do business with a madman.
46. Don't try to conciliate a pig; it is always best to let him alone.
47. Don't sell a man what he doesn't want.
48. Don't sell a man an inferior article which he believes to be a superior.
49. Don't ask a favor from a person whom you haven't treated properly.
50. Don't try to fool people whose business it is to know people.
51. Always grant a favor if reasonably possible.
52. Don't try to down a man who knows more about a subject than you do.
53. Don't criticize or condemn matters into which you have never delved to discover
merits or demerits. How can you say whether it is right or wrong when you don't
know its real or pretended principles?
54. Bear in mind that a friend is always worth more than an enemy. "Grudges" and ill
feelings toward other men wreck havoc in the brain substance.
55. Be above petty jealousies, or a continual fretting about what somebody said or
did.
56. Cultivate the ability, in dealing with others, to turn aside cutting remarks, either
real or fancied. Don't have super sensitive feelings that are cut by every zephyr of
jest.
57. Remember Carlyle's "great silent men", don't tell everything you know, either
concerning others or relating to your own affairs.
58. Don't tell things "before they are ripe." Oftentimes green maybe so's later cause
mental indigestion.
59. Don't launch a project until you have looked on every possible side of it.
Sometimes the unobserved side is the one where the cave in starts.
60. Always use pleasant words; this is not expensive, and you know not when the
boomerang may return. A bad word is like a mule's hind feet; it will wait years for
its one chance, and it usually gets that chance.
61. Treat every man, woman and child as though you were just about to confer a great
favor but avoid all condescension.
62. Make sure that your way is best before insisting upon it. Defer such insisting until
you have won over the other person.

The Child's Will

We are all born to be educators, to be parents, as we are not born to be engineers, or

sculptors, or musicians, or painters. Native capacity for teaching is therefore more
common than native capacity for any other calling. But in most people this native
sympathy is either dormant or blind or irregular in its action; it needs to be awakened, to
be cultivated, and above all to be intelligently directed. The very fact that this instinct is
so very strong, and all but universal, and that the happiness of the individual and of the
race so largely depends upon its development and intelligent guidance, gives greater
force to the demand that its growth may be fostered by favorable conditions; and that it
may be made certain and reasonable in its action, instead of being left blind and faltering,
as it surely will be without rational cultivation." -- Principal James A. McClellan.
The thought of the present chapter is not juvenile education, but the culture of the child's
Will. In this, the aim is suggestion rather than exhaustive discussion. In its actual life the
young child is little more than an animal. It is endowed with a Will because it is an
animal. It is endowed with reason because it is a moral animal. The Will of the human
animal finds sole explanation in its moral intelligence. Without moral nature, reason has
no purpose. Without reason, or instinct, the Will has no significance. Without the Will,
reason is impossible.
Man is justified in his moral nature, and the moral nature becomes possible in the self
disposing Will. The first, middle and last idea in all Will training of the child, therefore,
is the permanent welfare of a moral being.
At the outset, then, certain basal requirements are to be noted:
That the parent or teacher understand at least somewhat of child nature in general.
That the parent or teacher understand as far as possible the particular child in
hand.
That the parent or teacher possess a right Will.
That correct methods be employed in culturing the child's Will.
It is, moreover, to be remembered that treatment of the child's Will cannot be reduced to
prescribed and specific rules. This for two reasons: Child nature and child Will are
individual.
Specific rules would obscure rather than settle the problems involved. At this point
appear some common errors:

First Error:
That the child's Will should be conformed to a certain standard set up by parent or
teacher. This implies a making over of original nature. Original nature can be cultivated
and improved, but it always determines the final results.
The true question is this: What is the peculiar Will character of this particular child? Or
how can this particular Will be improved? The child's individual Will is its personal
motive power. It is not like a boiler in a factory, connected with a good or bad set of
machinery, and to be replaced by a better, or remodeled, if not satisfactory. It is a living
thing, and is indissolubly related to its mental mechanism; it is the mind's power, this
mind's power, to determine, and therefore cannot be conformed to any standard not
indicated by itself.
Second Error:
That the child's Will should be broken. "Breaking the Will" is a heresy against the nature
of things and a crime against man. The future adult's success depends upon his own kind
of Will, and upon some power of that Will as a human function. To "break the Will" is to
destroy the soul's power of self direction; that is, to wreck at the start the child's chances
of success. If the Will is properly understood, no one will wish to "break" it.
Teaching the child obedience does not demand an assault upon its Will, either with the
calm resistlessness of an iceberg or the fierce clash of arms in battle. The sole intrinsic
value of obedience is found in the child's Will; it does not reside in obedience itself, nor
in the results of obedience disconnected from Will. The one justifiable goal of enforced
obedience is the Will in the child taught to will the right thing. A Will that is merely
coerced is not with you, and, so long as coercion lasts, cannot be with you. In other
words, enforced obedience does not in itself strengthen Will, except in the spirit of
resistance. Enforced obedience may lead to reflection and discovery of the rightfulness of
commands, and thus strengthen the Will indirectly. If it does not, or may not, lead to such
discovery, it is worse than useless; it is then a positive injury to the child. The child
should be taught the nature of law, but a greater lesson is the nature and value of reason.
Let the Child Prophesy Fair
Here may be given
THE MAXIM OF BEST CHILD TRAINING
Force, physical or other, sparing. Reason, abundant, patient and kind.
The application of this maxim must always depend upon the nature of the individual
child. The more difficult the case, nevertheless, the more urgent the maxim, and the
greater the demand that grows out of its application, to wit. The parent or teacher must

possess reason, be reasonable, and be able and willing to show the same with self control
and confidence in reason's power.
Do not, then, attempt to conform the child's Will; patiently train it.
Do not try to break the child's Will; seek its intelligent development.
Do not leave the child's Will action to its own impulses; culture it to symmetrical
conditions.
Always regard the child's Will as an unspeakably holy thing.
Do not relegate the child's Will to chance methods; give it a thoughtful and deliberate
education, the education of a Prince Royal of the Blood. Such an education involves
Let the Child Prophesy Fair

THREE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES

First, the training process; Second, the developing process ; Third, the process of
symmetry.
FIRST PROCESS OF WILL CULTURE -- TRAINING
This branch of Will culture has reference to the power of Will as now possessed. It is not
an abstract problem it is concrete.
Such problem involves two basic principles: Reason and Interest.
The first basic principle is Reason or Judgment. The child's Will requires for its perfect
training an atmosphere of reason, so that its own judgments may be saturated with the
feeling of reasonableness and may impel corresponding volition.
This principle of reasonableness attaching to Will acts comes, on analysis, to be broken
up into certain questions. which should be kept constantly before the child's mind, but in
a way to encourage rather than to harass it:
1. Is this act correct ? Is this the correct way to do the thing in hand: Example;
handling a saw or a needle.
2. Is this act complete? Have you left nothing undone ? Example; making a toy or
stitching an apron.
3. Is this act your best? Example: your best recitation, or your best manner.
4. Is this act wise. ? Is it likely to be followed by satisfactory consequences to
yourself? Example: the desired picnic, or tardiness at school.

5. Is this act understood? Example: the lesson, or the way of doing a particular thing.
It is primary that arousing the child's understanding enlists its Will. The average child is
an animated and creative ganglion of interrogations. Here is a huge opportunity. It may
be seized by means of a few familiar questions, Why, How, Where, When, What, Whose,
all sharp openers to the young intellect, because perfectly in harmony with its own
activities.
The Child's Will
Example: A command has been given; the child's mind proceeds to inquire:
"Why must I do this ?"
"Why must I do this in a particular manner?"
"Why must I do this at a prescribed time?"
"Why must I do this at some particular place?"
Similarly in a different series, as the following:
"How must I do this?"
"Where must I do this?"
When must I do this?"
"What must I do?"
"At Whose desire or for whose interest must I do this?"
"What will be the consequences of this act?"
"What will be the consequences of omitting this act?"
"What experience have I had in similar cases?"
This general suggestion may also be employed by the teacher. It will astonish you to
discover how the child's intellect can be electrified by the touch of the interrogative. It
will unearth ignorance thus seen to be unnecessary both in the child and in the parent or
teacher. Try the following questions as to any common object.
What is this thing?
How is this thing?

Where is this thing?

When is this thing?
Whose is this thing?
Why is this thing?
The fact is, the child is too largely compelled to discover for itself the necessity for such
questions, is left to its own impulses for their asking and their answers. This is the rough
and tumble education of life.
The amount of unintelligent teaching with which the child has to contend, at home and at
school, is enormous. Adults do not understand or think; why should the child understand
and think? The teacher does not draw all the water out of the well; why should the child
be expected to do so, or to know what is at the bottom?
I asked a child how she would ascertain the number of square feet in a certain wall. She
repeated the rule. Then I asked, " Why do you multiply the number of feet on one side by
the number of feet on the other or longer side?" She did not know. It had never occurred
to the teacher to go beyond the rule with the child.
I asked another child why summer is warmer than winter, notwithstanding the greater
distance of the sun. She answered, " Because in summer the sun's rays are direct." "But
why does that fact make the weather warmer?" She did not know. It had never occurred
to the teacher to ask that question.
"A friend of mine," says Professor James, "visiting a school, was asked to examine a
young class in geography. Glancing at the book, he said: 'Suppose you should dig a hole
in the ground. hundreds of feet deep, how should you find it at the bottom warmer or
colder than at the top?' None of the class replying, the teacher said: 'I'm sure they know,
but. I think you don't ask the question quite rightly. Let me try.' So, taking the book, she
asked: 'In what condition is the interior of the globe?' and received the immediate answer
from half the class at once: 'The interior of the globe is in a condition of igneous fusion.'
In this case the prime fault lay with the writer of the geography, or the school committee.
But a teacher or a parent ought to break into pieces the usual forms of instruction that
come the child's way. No marvel that tasks set to the child's Will train it only imperfectly.
Make doubly sure that the child understands the nature of things as taught and their main
purpose. Understanding involves action of the reason, and thus, without direct effort,
trains the Will.
Is this act right?

Is it right because I have suggested it, or because of a higher law? Example, the use of
certain words, or of exaggeration. It is imperative that Will training be conducted on the
lines of morality. The absence of ethical quality in Will culture, on the part of the parent
or teacher, and of the child, destroys confidence, undermines the foundation of
commands, leaves the child without a sense of authority other than that of force, and
confuses the whole question of any right use of the Will.
If, now, the basis of Will training in the child is reason or understanding, certain attitudes
common at home and in the school require condemnation.
Never dominate the child with that inexcusable tyranny:
"Do as I tell you."
"Because I say so."
If the command has no better support, it is a species of bullying. If you have better
reasons, but will not kindly declare them, your command is a sure bidder for future
anarchy. The child's reason is an acute questioner and judge. It obeys, but inwardly rebels
because its master is arbitrary, and its Will is thus demoralized by nursed and secret
resistance. Its power has become hostile both to yourself and to the child's welfare.
Never put off an answer to the child's questioning for the reasons connected with a
command. The child ought never to be compelled to act or Will blindly. Your
reasonableness will develop its faith, always a prime factor of the right Will.
Seldom draw on the child's Will in the form of a command. In the long run, if other
things are equal, expressed desire will be doubly efficient. Even when the direct
command seems necessary, the reasons which make it your desire can be urged upon the
child's attention, and will ultimately win the thing you ought to wish, a willed obedience.
Throughout all engagements of the child's reason, the element of interest plays an
important part. In the main it is inevitable, for an awakened mind is an interested mind.
The child, may, however, perceive the correctness of an act, its ideal, its present
possibility as an ideal, its wisdom and its moral rightness, yet be altogether lacking in the
Will attitude which expends itself in Will culture. Such Will attitude must either be
forced, or won. If it is forced, nothing is directly gained for the Will. If it is won, it is by
so much strengthened and trained. To win the child's Will, its interest must be excited.
This requires infinite trouble and patience, but the method is sure to justify in a better
power and quality of Will action. A Will trained through interest becomes finally a Will
that can plod at the goading of necessity or dreary duty, and hold to purpose after all
interest save that of duty has waned.
The second basic principle, then, is Interest. The child's interest, now, responds to certain
appeals:

To the feeling of curiosity.

To the desire to imitate.
To the desire to emulate.
To the desire to know
To the desire to benefit itself.
To the desire to please others.
To the desire for independence.
These feelings and desires are incessantly active in every normal child. They may be
turned hither and thither, always causing the child to will with that Will it possesses.
It is curious, and wills to discover.
It wishes to imitate, and wills thought, action, speech.
It wishes to emulate, and wills to equal others.
It wishes to know, to possess serious knowledge and wills the exercise of its faculties.
It wishes to benefit itself, and wills the discovery and use of means appropriate.
It wishes to please others, and wills its conduct into line.
It wishes to be independent, and wills judgment and freedom.
The lessons for parent and teacher are evident
Keep the child's curiosity vigorously alert.
Train the imitative desires wisely in the matter of selection, avoidance, discrimination
and manner of imitating. Is it merely aping? Repress. Is it imitating poorly? Improve. Is it
imitating unwisely? Repress. Is it imitating in a beneficial manner? Encourage. See that it
has the best possible examples, and incite interest to do its own best.
Imitation may lead to emulation. All the suggestions in regard to imitation apply here.
But imitation may be spontaneous, and if right, should be made voluntary. Emulation
always involves the Will. The difference between imitation and emulation may be
illustrated. John repeats the language used by his father, as a parrot might do, without any
act of the Will beyond that required for the proper control of his vocal organs. This is
imitation. But John may be taught to admire his father's ways, principles, purposes; to

think about them, and to desire that they may appear in himself. His imitation has now
become emulation.
Is the child emulating a bad example? Turn the capacity in another direction. Is it
emulating a good example incompletely? Improve. Is it emulating for an inferior
purpose? Direct its attention to a higher. Bring to its mind matters and persons worthy of
emulation, and invest the idea of emulation with every possible interest. You are seeking
to train the child's Will; noble emulation is one of nature's great provisions.
Cultivate the desire to know. Ask a thousand questions about the child's affairs.
Encourage it to bombard you with questions of its own inventing. This thing has its limit,
to be sure, but the limit is large. Questions are the crackling noises of an opening brain.
Never reply to questions, "Oh, because!" "Oh, never mind!" "Oh, don't bother me ! "If
you are too busy to answer just now, make a future engagement to attend to the matters,
and keep the appointment.
If the child cannot now understand, promise to answer its questions when it can, and
fulfill that promise If you do not know, honestly confess. Then look up that matter as a
thing of first importance, and give the child the desired information.
Secure interest in all tasks. The uninteresting is the unwilled. Example: Sewing aprons
merely to keep busy will very likely be poor work; sewing on the next party dress is an
intensely interesting thing securing good work, and is therefore an education.
Or, again; The study of the geography of Spain ruled Cuba a few years ago was a dull
task poorly performed. "What's the use! Studying that Cuba where your brother had gone
to fight Spain's tyranny and plant the Stars and Stripes was "just fun." The "fun of the
thing" awakened the Will and illuminated geography.
Cultivate the child's desire to please and benefit itself. This desire is one of nature's
strongest motors in man, and should be intelligently developed and regulated. It works
injury only when misunderstood or wrongly applied. Analyzed, it divides into two
impulses, that of self-interest and that of selfishness. A few characteristics will reveal the
difference between these forms of personal motive.
Self interest seeks the best interest of self; Selfishness seeks a false benefit which
ultimately injures self. Self interest is ascertained by a study of law; selfishness is
conceived in indifference to law. The one is represented by liberty; the other by license.
Self interest respects the consensus of opinion; selfishness ignores the general opinion.
Self interest is always concerned with the highest welfare of others: for man's life is a
community organism, and his highest interest is realized through law abiding
independence subordinated to service; selfishness isolates itself from the demands of
relations to others, and realizes in law defying independence requiring service for self
regardless of others.

Self interest is an eternal reality; selfishness is eternally a denial of that reality.

Self interest forever fulfills itself and creates larger capacities and larger worlds of
opportunity; selfishness forever defeats itself, destroys capacity for welfare, and ultimates
in the world of the infinitely little.
Hence, to cultivate the child's desire for its own benefit and pleasure is to cultivate true
ideals of happiness and welfare. This means a reasonable and kind process of education
resulting in the elimination of selfishness from life and the substitution therefore of a true
self interest.
How, then, shall the child's desire to please and benefit itself be trained?
By appeal to experience. The child has sought to please itself selfishly; see to it that
disagreeable consequences are emphasized in its thought and memory. If none are likely
to be apparent, bring them about, not necessarily as punishments, but as natural
consequences and wholesome lessons.
If the child has subordinated itself, bring out clearly the beneficial results. If none are
apparent, manage the matter in such a way as to secure them, even if artificially.
Always must the child's Will be kept in mind. The will to do for a real pleasure or benefit
will certainly be stronger after proper experience duly emphasized than the will to do for
fancied happiness or welfare shown in experience to lead to unhappiness.
By appeal to the love of reward. Reward is a fruit of the nature of things. It should have a
large but regulated place in the child's life. Here is perfect stimulation to right exercise of
Will. Hence; Do not reduce the child's life to the plane of mere duty.
Do not compel it to perform an act simply because you order it. Suggest rewards of some
sort, gifts, or pleasure promised, or benefits upheld as certain to come about naturally.
Do not seek to dominate the child's conduct by remote or abstract ideas. Teach the remote
through the present, the abstract through the concrete.
By appeal to theory. Theory builds on the practical for the practical. It must be made to
appear to the child in a concrete form as a concrete value. If the child does not perceive
such value, its interest ceases and the Will flags. If it suspects that theories are mere
visions and personal notions, it loses respect for your teaching. It must in some way be
made to get hold of principles and their reality, so that it may intuitively apply them to
various practical cases. The circles called home, street, school or playground,
neighborhood, village or city, are all ramified by certain general principles which
guarantee welfare. We may suggest them in the word "respect."
Respect for the feelings of others.

Respect for the rights of others.

Respect for the opinions of others.
Respect for the customs of others.
Respect for the beliefs of others.
Respect for the opportunities of others.
Respect for the liberty of others.
Respect for the destiny of others.
Such principles may be thrown into ideals or maxims and made incessantly prominent in
all the child's relations to the various circles of life.
Cultivate the child's desire for the happiness and welfare of others. The preceding
suggestions inevitably make for these ends. But life ought at times to forget even self
interest. Encourage, therefore, action for others which does not think of self. A thousand
opportunities are afforded for this effort. Certain simple rules may be indicated.
Request the child to do, not order it. On compliance, express your thankfulness. For
unusual obedience, manifest appreciation. For voluntary service, exhibit a lively
gratification. Occasionally provide some unexpected pleasure. For exceptional
thoughtfulness, indicate corresponding approbation.
Cultivate the child's desire for independence. With all safeguards thrown around it, the
child must, in countless ways, think, determine, act for itself. The more frequently and
fully it does so, under wise supervision, the more surely will its Will power be trained,
and its future be mortgaged for the largest success. A right spirit of independence may be
cultivated.
By appeal to the love of ownership. The child ought to own many things in "fee simple,"
as it were. Its ownership should be thoroughly respected, and seldom overshadowed by
any superior claim. In addition to possession in the ordinary run of life, it should also be
made owner of special things with responsibilities or unusual opportunities connected
therewith, as a piece of land, an animal, a boat, a set of tools, some kind of mechanism
for making various articles, materials to be worked over, etc.
By the appeal of the practical in society. Under proper restrictions, stores, shops,
factories, farms, public buildings, and the like, afford fine opportunities to acquire
familiarity with common objects and common ways of doing things which inevitably
minister to the child's sense and power of independence in times of special need.

Try throwing the child upon its own resources and judgment, as far as may, in any given
case, be wise. This requires that it be given as large a measure of liberty as is compatible
with a long headed view of its best welfare. Sooner or later it must depend upon itself.
The present question is, shall its future freedom be that of liberty or that of license? The
man's liberty must grow out of the child's law governed independence.
Do not smother independence, therefore, but regulate it. Do not tie the child to your tether
of personal notion. Cut the apron string, or get a long rope. This increases your care, but
it builds the child's Will.
If the child gets hurt in its freedom, experience is a good teacher. If it falls into error,
there is your opportunity to preach an illustrated sermon like a storyteller, with all points
suggested above for divisions, and self regulated independence as the main lesson.
Never say "No" to a child merely to relieve yourself of trouble. Never say "No" to a child
without stopping to think. Do your first thinking silently. If favorable, repeat the process
to the child. If unfavorable, and you wish to give the child a lesson in experience, repeat
the process aloud and say, " Yes." If you are found to have been mistaken, reason the
matter out to the preservation of the child's respect for you, notwithstanding. If you were
right, abstain from gloating, but impress the lesson handsomely. If your judgment is
unfavorable to the child's desires, and you do not wish to chance the lesson of experience,
repeat the process of thought and say "No."
Always make the "No" as easy as possible.
Never say a reasonable "No" and change to a thoughtless "Yes."
Never say "No" when "Yes" would be exactly as wise.
Avoid the habit of senseless objection.
Never say "Yes" and change to a thoughtless "No."
Never say, "Oh, I don't care!" This shows that you rule or permit without thought.
If the problem will not resolve itself to your thought, state the case fairly, and win the
child's assent to your doubt. Cultivate independence, again.
By inducing the child to launch out, now and then, in some heroic venture, always
forefended and watched over.
By encouraging heroic endurance of consequences.
By encouraging frank and heroic assumption of blame for mistakes of its own.

By encouraging modest appropriation of legitimate praise and satisfaction for favorable

outcomes of independent decisions, conduct and ventures.
These suggestions will readily recall to mind various illustrations as to means and
methods, and need not be further elaborated.
Now, the child's interest is usually spontaneous and natural. But nature constantly
indicates that spontaneous interest may be invented. It is the possibility of invented
interest that enables Professor James to state the following:
LAWS OF INTEREST:
First law of interest:
"Any object not interesting in itself may become interesting through becoming associated
with an object in which an interest already exists. The two associated ideas grow, as it
were; the interesting portion sheds its quality over the whole; and thus things not
interesting in their own right borrow an interest which becomes as real and as strong as
that of any natively interesting thing."
This law suggests three practical rules
1. Associate in the child's life interesting things with uninteresting things; or cause
the uninteresting things to borrow interest from things that are in any way
possessed of interest to the child. As this rule may be divided;
2. "Begin with the line of his native interests, and offer him objects that have some
immediate connection with these.
3. "Step by step connect with these first objects and experiences the later objects and
ideas which you wish to instill. Associate the new with the old in some natural
and telling way, so that the interest, being shed along from point to point, finally
suffuses the entire system of objects of thought."
In a few words, get hold of the child's interest in some way, immediate or remote, in the
subject or task in hand; then connect its interest, as it exists, by any roundabout way, with
the thing or act desired.
Second law of interest:
"Voluntary attention cannot be continuously sustained; it comes in beats." This is true in
the adult mind. Voluntary attention in the child's mind is much more fickle; hence the
value of the prescription:
"The subject must be made to show new aspects of itself; to prompt new questions; in a
word, to change." From an unchanging subject the attention inevitably wanders away.
You can test this by the simplest possible case of sensorial attention. Try to attend
steadfastly to a dot on the paper or on the wall. You presently find that one or the other of

two things has happened: either your field of vision has become blurred, so that you now
see nothing distinct at all, or else you have involuntarily ceased to look at the dot in
question and are looking at something else. But, if you ask yourself successive questions
about the dot, how big it is, how far, of what shape, what shade of color, etc.; in other
words, if you turn it over, if you think of it in various ways, and along with various kinds
of associations, you can keep your mind upon it for a comparatively long time."
Third law of interest.
In the child's life the concrete is always the realest and the most interesting. All is things.
The mind constantly concretes the abstract. It is this fact that gives life an enormous
fictitious interest; examples: units = apples, dolls, etc.; freedom = eating all the jam you
want; God = a huge man who is invisible, but, because He is omnipresent, can be caught
in an old shoe and tied up, a real case in the family of a religious professor of physics.
Make the child's Will, therefore, a mover of concrete realities. Always is it to be
remembered that the child is preeminently a subject of education. And what education is,
let Professor James tell us: "It cannot be better described than by calling it the
organization of acquired habits of conduct and tendencies to behavior."
At home or school, this process of "organizing acquired habits" involves a great
aphorism, "No reception without reaction, no impression without correlative expression."
The preceding basic principles of reason and of interest, with the suggestions noted,
simply mean that whatever properly goes into the child's mind should be worked over, by
itself, in its concrete life. All such reactions tend to train the Will. Right reaction equals
right Will exercise. Similarly, all right impressions upon the child's mind are to be
returned in some kind of expression in action. If you arouse judgment or reason and
interest, you inevitably secure reaction and expression in life. The rule is infallible.
SECOND PROCESS OF WILL CULTURE -- DEVELOPMENT
Right training of the child's Will must, in the nature of the case, result in more or less
increase of its power. But the specific end, a stronger Will in the child, becomes now the
larger goal. The Will is merely the mind's ability to put forth volitions.
The mind, willing repeatedly in any given direction, acquires greater ability to will in
some directions. The mind, willing readily and strongly in one direction, may be so
trained in that direction as to will readily and strongly in other directions. This has been
disputed, but it seems obvious. He who acquires facility in performing a certain kind of
mental task may thereby acquire power for other tasks. He who successfully resists one
temptation prepares himself for successful resistance of another temptation. A will
trained in the use of reason and by appeals to a true interest, becomes a better and
stronger Will for response to the naked call of duty. It is not necessary to acquire power
for all different kinds of acts; the soul stores power adequate to untried cases. Any
general faculty of the mind may be developed as a general faculty.

Development of Will regards, indirectly its present state, but primarily the increase of
power wherein the mind lacks. The mind possesses a certain ability to will at present; it
may be educated, unfolded, so as to acquire power to put forth volitions more strongly for
any purpose.
For such development of Will power the basic principle is now practice.

Conclusion: The Symmetrical Existence

Our labors are now nearly concluded. Henceforth it only remains to carry out in daily life
the ideas of the preceding pages. The book is not a treatise; it seeks to be a teacher, and
thus leaves much to the intelligence of the reader. If it prove suggestive and lead to
practical efforts for culture of the Will, the devotion of the long period required for its
mastery will surely be justified.
As M. Guizot said to his class in lecturing on the "History of Civilization":
"The good fortune to have all the faculties called into action, so as to ensure a full and
free development of the various powers both of mind and body, is an advantage not too
dearly paid for by the labor and pain with which it is attended."
It is hoped that the following are among the results achieved:
The fundamentals of the mental constitution have been more fully disclosed.
The reader has been introduced to his own center of power, the Will, and has perceived
some of the tests and secrets of success in life.
A neglected fact has been made plain, that the Will may be cured when defective, and
thus trained and developed.
Recognition of the reader's self has been aroused as a psychic power possessed of two
psychic instruments, body and mind.
Certain more specific results follow these considerations:
First. The body and the senses are better understood and controlled. Life demands clear
soul windows. Correct hearing allies with genius. In the sense of smell the chemistry of
instinct prepares for intelligent mastery. The sense of taste foreruns the discriminations of
a purposeful art. The sense of touch advance guards the soul's progress.
The nervous values of existence are measured by the degree of restraint imposed upon the
nerve system. The hands should be the great art servants of the mind. Nerves and muscles
act rightly together as they are mastered by determined intelligence. The Will enjoins
health; and its power depends upon the amount of order obtaining within its kingdom.
The labor which involves these discoveries originates indomitable Will power.
Second. The mind has become a new kingdom, surveyed and given government. The
mind that can master attention, achieves. The gift of reading depends for value upon the
focusing Will. The attribute of thought is kingly according to the degree of concentrated
personality behind it.

Masterful personality anticipates the future as its memory realizes the past. The pioneer
of life, which is the imagination, makes or destroys by as much as personality has willed
moral or immoral purpose.
Willed moral purpose has absolute power over all habituated action. Man's relations with
his fellows is rightly masterful if the reasonable Will is dominant. The ability to converse
with the voiceless crowd, any ordinary audience, is not a gift nor a trick, but is an
extension of usual communication by the magnetic personality laboriously acquired.
The subtle secret of true magnetism is a mighty Will morally determined. The Personal
Atmosphere is a vibrant center to be given moral quality by high purposed Will. The
child may become the supreme benefactor of the man. The labor which involves these
discoveries originates self-conscious and indomitable power of Will.
Third. A deathless interest in such and further important discoveries appears. Interest
awakened in self, hitherto largely unknown. A wonderful domain has opened, causing
astonishment that it should have been so long neglected. Do educated people know
themselves? Literature and schools abundant! Meanwhile, the psychic self pores and
bores, unmindful and uninstructed that it is psychic or has a power of Will, and that this
is given to be grown, and nurtured, and trained for ultimate destiny.
For, observe!
Nowhere, today, probably, exists a college or university wherein the individual shall
study and master himself to a degree, before engaging in the smaller conquest of infinite
worlds. But what history so valuable as that of a man's own growing soul? What science
so imperative as that of a man's own bones, nerves, muscles, limbs, organs, senses,
functions? What psychology so important to know as your own? What power so needful
to understand as the electric nerve force, the secreting and expanding dynamics of
thought, the sovereign energy of Will?
Discovery of the value of systematic labor in the fundamental fields of self for its own
improvement. Is it not largely true that prevailing educational methods set minds at work
upon tasks concerning ten thousand matters, more or less remotely related to the growth
of mind, rather than upon matters in the mind directly related to these multitudinous facts,
so called?
All Radii Equal
It is like trying to improve a machine by working it on inconceivable miscellanies of
tasks, when reason would suggest the definite understanding and improvement of the
mechanism preparatory to its adapted work. Man's education should first concern his own
fundamental powers and possibilities.

This requires more than one regime with every department of his constitution. The value,
therefore, of systematic labor on as well as with the senses and the various mental powers
cannot be overestimated.
This value should be directly and deliberately sought, in the man's self, not merely in an
universe, the worth of which, to him, depends wholly upon what he knows and masters of
himself.
The universe, as a field of endeavor, reacts upon the individual, to be sure. But the true
goal is to get the man to react rightly upon the universe. This requires self development,
sought by direct methods, as well as by the roundabout methods of objective analysis and
attack.
The direct and conscious development of Will, understood as within, as the man's master
or his servant, as his maker or his destroyer. If this book has been worked into the
student, he has emerged from its pages a joyous, conquering Will, a masterful
personality. He ought now to decide with the prompt and compelling power of a rifle
shot. He ought now to "brake his wheels" with divine authority. He ought now to persist
and sleuth hound his purposes with the tenacity of nature's laws.
He will not have transcended his original endowments, but his true possibilities will
certainly have come to the fore. That is his whole measure of responsibility and success.
If he has become self reliant, a man who can stand alone or go alone, as his real interest
may demand, he has achieved the Mood of the gods, confidence in his own throne and
dominion.
The book has undoubtedly suggested many possible exercises not found in its pages. This
is a value; it implies power in the reader. All such suggestions should be tried, tested,
and, if practicable and useful, adopted, for temporary purposes or for permanent regime.
Some additional chapters might have been written, as, for example, on the relation of the
Will to knowledge, the place of Will in belief, the Will and the beautiful. But such
chapters would prove afield of the end in view, a great Will. All exercises given tend to
this end. Only in a secondary manner, probably, would practice in willing for belief or the
cultivation of taste have so resulted.
The Symmetrical Existence
It is a commonplace, however, that knowledge, in itself and as to its kind, demands
willed purpose and willed selection; that right beliefs are legitimately within the province
of a healthy and determined Will, in the way of forcing honest investigation and true
methods, etc.; and that intelligent Will has much to do with the appropriation of art and
the beautiful in general.
Will may determine aesthetics, either for a high or a low type, either for a purpose or an
influence that is essentially moral or morally indifferent. Transform an artist's or a

people's moral character, and note the function of Will in the elevation of art. A final
prime result should now be perceived
Fourth. The goal of the Symmetrical Life. Let us observe The Symmetrical Existence is
the ultimate of the perfected Will. Man is a kind of personality. Personality is body plus
sensation plus consciousness plus sensibilities plus intellect plus reason plus conscience
plus moral judgment plus spiritual states plus environment plus Will. These facts outline
for us the following synopsis:
1. Every human possesses:
Physical life: Body, organs, muscles, nerves, functions;
Mental life: Consciousness, sense-perception, sensibilities, memory, imagination,
reason, intuitions, Will, consciousness;
Moral life: Conscience, spiritual states, and perceptions, faith, affections, hope.
2. Every human acquires:
Defects;
Development or improvement;
Consciousness of the same;
Enjoyment or suffering from the same.
3. Every human works with:
Heredity;
Environment.
4. Every human unfolds:
Character;
Conduct.
Hence, there are to be noted the Symmetrical and the Unsymmetrical Existences.
Examine these in the reverse order.

FIRST, THE UNSYMMETRICAL LIFE

The Unsymmetrical Life is always individual, not typical. In other words, it is more or
less blameworthy.
Unsymmetrical Life is burdened with defects of Possession, curable, incurable.
1. Of the Physical life. The incurable must be borne by Will. The curable must by
Will be sought out and eliminated.
Examination: Put yourself under the most rigid scrutiny as to curable defects.
Of body; examples -- stoop-shoulders, toe in, etc.;
Of senses; examples -- near sightedness, dull hearing, etc.;
Of organs; examples-- indigestion, weak lungs, etc.;
Of muscles; examples -- flabby, unequally developed, etc.;
Of nerves; examples -- weak:, "touchy," etc.;
Of functions; example -- slow hearing due to dull mind.
Resolve to cure all these defects! Begin the work now, desperately, with a high
hand.
2. Of the Mental life. The incurable should be reluctantly recognized, then made the
most of by indomitable Will. The curable: must immediately be discovered.
Examination. As before, rigidly cross examine the mind for these curable defects.
Of perception; example -- scant and slow observation;
Of consciousness; examples -- vague, confused, not studied;
Of the sensibilities; examples -- unfeeling, too humorous;
Of memory; examples -- for names, faces, dates;
Of imagination; examples - with past experiences, with future contingencies;
Of reason; example -- hasty judgments;
Of Will; example -- indecision:

Of " intuitions"; example -- personal antipathies.

3. Of the Moral life. The incurable should never be admitted, The moral always
involves the Will. All defects, therefore, are curable. The Will must set about the
task with the desperation of life battling against death.
Examination: Here, particularly, search out unceasingly, in body and mind,
minutest defects
Of conscience; example: in trade details;
Of spiritual states and perceptions; examples: indifference to human interests or to Deity,
imperfect ideas as to right and wrong in conduct;
Of belief and faith; example, inadequate consideration of evidence, willful persistence in
belief or disbelief in spite of alleged evidence; lack of confidence in an overruling Power;
Of the affections; examples: little thought as to the Golden Rule, ill will freely
entertained;
Of hope; examples, indifference to moral consequences, mental lethargy as to a future
existence.
The Unsymmetrical Life represents, further, Wrong ACQUISITIONS.
If the Will is right, what has been evilly acquired can be eliminated. If the Will is not
right, it must be trained and developed. All acquired defects are curable. It is, first, a
question of desire, and secondly a matter of Will.
Examination: Search every field of personality with minutest scrutiny for acquired
defects. You enjoy them, it may be, and are not willing to perceive them. Look, hence,
with the eyes of other people. Pass under honest review:
Each factor of the body which is under the control of Will;
Every department of the mind for inequalities and wrong habits;
The moral nature, for wrong beliefs, dispositions, tendencies, etc.;
The whole sphere of self control, for indifference and acknowledged weakness, for
vagaries and want of practical tone and balance.
Erroneous and misleading "intuitions "or notions;
Consciousness of abilities and growth, for lack of same, for undue recognition of, for
inadequate appreciation of self ;

Enjoyment derived from such consciousness, for selfishness and the threat of sloth or
arrogant pride;
Suffering caused by consciousness of defects, for reasonableness and relation to
improvement;
Antipathies as to persons and things, groundless and uncontrolled.
All Radii Equal
The Unsymmetrical Life involves defects of HEREDITY and ENVIRONMENT.
Of Heredity. The incurable must be borne by Will, and may often be utilized for self
benefit. Example: the blind develop extraordinary acuteness in the other senses. The
curable may be brought to light with proper labor and care. They are handicaps.
Of body; examples: consumptive tendencies;
Of mind; examples: peculiar habits and traits which indicate abnormality;
Of morals; example: natural sharp bent in money matters.
Of Environment. The incurable must be made means for personal welfare in spite of their
existence. This can be done only by the indomitable Will. The curable must be cautiously
handled when discovered.
Examination: Be fair as to defects of family, of house, of neighborhood, of town, of
society, of church, of climate, of state.
Four questions here appear
How can you contribute to the reform of these environments?
How can you best adjust yourself to them, after such contribution?
How can you best secure different environments?
How can you make the most of your environments which cannot be reformed or
changed?
The Unsymmetrical Life stands for wrong UNFOLDMENTS.
Your character is what you have made yourself. Of this, conduct is the truest expression.
This book has had in view the growth of a power with which alone character can put
forth right conduct and develop by its expression. Whatever you are, aside from incurable
heredity, is due to your use of the Will. If character is weak, wrong, etc., it is because,

with your original makeup, you have permitted it to become or remain so. Your standard
is not some abstract ideal, but it is just this first nature and what you can make of it under
all the circumstances of your life. Hence, all defects of character and conduct are curable.
Orison Swett Marden remarks suggestively: "How many of us rank high in most respects,
but our average is cut down very low by some contemptible weakness or some vicious
habit. How easy it is to forget that the strength of the chain lies in its weakest, not the
strongest link; that a small leak will sink a ship as surely as a large one, it being only a
question of time."
The Symmetrical Existence
IN THE SECOND PLACE, THE SYMMETRICAL LIFE.
The Symmetrical Life is, now, with the Unsymmetrical, always individual, not typical. In
other words, the ideal is relative rather than absolute. With divisions as before, observe:
THE SYMMETRICAL LIFE AS TO POSSESSIONS.
1. Here the possessions of the Physical Life require:
That all the laws of health shall be obeyed;
That intelligent exercise shall be carried on;
That a rational control of the body shall be maintained;
That all defects shall be remedied as far as possible;
That a noble use of all powers shall characterize all movements.
2. The possessions of the Mental Life require:
That all powers shall be cultivated for their own sake;
That they shall be coordinated in the best possible manner;
That the reason shall dominate;
That the Will shall be conscious, intelligent and strong, yet judicious in exercise;
That the whole mind shall be rightly related to the surrounding life;
That life's abilities shall be enjoyed for the highest personal welfare;
And that the mind shall always be open to the truth, and nothing but the truth.

3. The possessions of the Moral Life require:

That the conscience shall be enlightened, quick and healthy;
That its dictates shall always be obeyed;
That it shall be nourished by the highest thought and action;
That spiritual states shall be taught, classified, intensified and used;
That belief and faith shall be founded in reason, developed by search for light and
encouraged by right relations with, and reliance on, appropriate objects;
That the affections shall follow, carefully, intelligently and persistently the
Golden Rule and the sublimest axioms of religion;
That hope shall be quickened by sensitive apprehension of moral qualities in
things, ideas and actions, and rationally based in the nature of things as
reverentially studied and ethically understood.
All Radii Equal
THE SYMMETRICAL LIFE AS TO ACQUISITIONS.
The acquisitions of the Symmetrical Life require:
That defects shall be discovered and immediately eliminated;
That every power of mind and body shall be assiduously developed;
That every faculty of the entire self shall be controlled by supreme Will according
to the dictates of morality and reason;
That antipathies shall be banished if possible, and always regulated;
That consciousness shall embrace the sum total of acquirements in order to best
use, and be enjoyed, not merely in appreciation of the present, but as well in
expectation of greater developments to come;
That " intuitions" shall be disciplined by sound common sense.
THE SYMMETRICAL LIFE AS TO HEREDITY.
In the Symmetrical Life, heredity, if favorable, is to be utilized to the utmost; if
unfavorable, overcome.

THE SYMMETRICAL LIFE AS TO ENVIRONMENT.

In the Symmetrical Life, environment, if indifferent to progress, is to be dominated by
positive qualities; if hostile, is to be conquered, or reformed, or given up for better; if
favorable, is to be taken with all advantages, not to be permitted mastery, which is always
the tendency of propitious surroundings, but to be seized and controlled with the
masterful Will.
In nature, environment is the workshop of heredity; in man, environment ought to be the
Throne Room of Will.
THE SYMMETRICAL LIFE AS TO CHARACTER.
Character, in the Symmetrical Life, if based upon heredity, is to be improved, corrected,
or suppressed; if based upon right Will, is to be valued, studied, cherished and nourished,
as eternal good.
THE SYMMETRICAL LIFE AS TO CONDUCT.
Conduct, in the Symmetrical Life must be right toward self, right toward man, right
toward truth and Deity.
This outline sets forth a gigantic task. But life that is a failure involves gigantic toil, and it
is an unspeakable ruin because it is Will power regnant amid anarchy.
Let it, then, appear:
That the Will is not the man entire;
That the perfect Will is the man matured;
That personality complete is the Will centering and ruling the maturing man: body,
emotions, intellect, conscience, and all religious faculties.
All higher powers inhere in the Will. They are nothing without the Will. They come to
perfection through the Will. Their development involves culture of Will power. The Will
is the center from which all powers radiate to the circle of the perfected personality.
Hence, there can be no Symmetrical Life that is not determined, sought and secured by
Will.
The Unsymmetrical Life is one in which Will fails, either to seek self discovery and
development, or to improve where defects and better possibilities are known. Here the
radii of powers fail to extend out to the perfect circle of personality. The majority of men
are unnecessarily ignorant of their own defects and possibilities. The Will does not, thus,
center their selfhood.

A multitude of people recognize defects, but ignore them because of lack of Will to set
about correction. Discovery of fault should be instantly followed by remedy. This is often
prevented by sloth, by fear of consequences, by dread of cost, by indifference to a true
personality.
The Unsymmetrical Life is largely inexcusable. It is a promise of ultimate bankruptcy.
It is the threat of culpable suicide.
In the Symmetrical Life the man seeks to improve all powers to the utmost. He gives due
regard to each, carefully, persistently. He strives to bring out each radius to the perfect
circle. He endeavors to fill up every depression in the sphere of his being.
The Symmetrical Life, therefore, is independent of heredity; this is true because
symmetry is not an abstract matter determined by reference to some universal standard,
without regard to individuality, but is a concrete thing having reference to the man as
originally endowed. A rose is concrete symmetry, although it lacks the abstract symmetry
of a glass imitation.
The Symmetrical Life starts with its own endowments, builds on its own foundation,
develops according to its own laws. Hence, there are grades in symmetry. Each grade has
perfect value by as much as it is determined by intelligent Will.
The law and the privilege of life are that a man shall make the most of himself as heredity
has really endowed him. He can develop symmetry in himself, however imperfect this
may be as compared with others or an abstract ideal which is indifferent to his nature.
Superior beings and ideals merely assist in inspiring his symmetrical growth, the bringing
out of his own powers. Such beings and ideals must never be regarded as discouraging
standards. The intelligent Will does not attempt the impossible.
The Symmetrical Life is, also, in a true sense, independent of environment. It cannot be
destroyed, nor prevented by surroundings, provided its Will holds good.
A good Will adjusts to environment, and grows in its mastery.
A good Will conquers environment, and thus thrives on difficulty.
A good Will makes environment, and thus unfolds in triumph.
A good Will, at the last resort, forsakes old for new environment, and thus strengthens
itself by a rational persistence.
Civilization attests all the above propositions. Every truly successful man is an epitome
of the civilization of his own time. The secret of the Will's power over self, over heredity
and environment, lies in the fact that it is active, that it is intelligent, that it is individual,

that it is a law unto itself and thus subject to law, and that, therefore, it is free. But the
ideally free Will is the ideally perfect Will. And the ideally perfected Will is the
Symmetrical Existence.
In "Raja Yoga" there is this legend: A great God sage, traveling everywhere, found a man
who had been meditating until an ant hill had been built up around his body. The man
begged the sage to ask God to give him his ultimate freedom. Further on the traveler saw
another man who was dancing and singing, and who begged him to ask the same boon.
Later, the sage, returning, met the first petitioner, to whom he brought the message from
heaven: " The Lord told me that you would attain freedom in four more births." And then
the man began to mourn. But the sage met the second petitioner, to whom he said: "I have
to tell you that as many leaves as there are on that Tamarind tree, so many times you will
be born, and then you will attain your freedom. "And the second man shouted: "I will
have freedom after so short a time!" But a voice came, "My child, you will have freedom
this minute."
The Symmetrical and the Unsymmetrical Existence are near or far according to the
persistence and energy of the Will. The following chart, which does not aim to be
exhaustive, is now suggested for study and comparison with yourself. It should be read,
again and again. "Know thyself." Indicate in writing on the chart your own photographic
details, and resolutely set about the correction of defects, the improvement of
excellences, and the bringing of all powers to a better condition and a greater harmony
among themselves.
Permit no defect to continue.
Cultivate neglected faculties and capacities.
Make the best use of good qualities.
Compel your strong points to assist your weaker.
Overcome hostile heredity.
Master environment.
Seek the circle of individual perfection.
Resolve on the ideal in character and conduct.
The Symmetrical Existence is your ideal.
The ideal is absolute and relative.
The absolute ideal is never realized.

But the absolute ideal is the inspiration of the relative ideal.

The relative ideal is that of attainment just beyond and of high purpose now steadfastly
entertained.
The ideal of purpose is always shifting. So soon as it is realized in attainment, a
substitution appears; it is no longer ideal, but is actual, and the true ideal is discovered as
a new goal.
The relative ideal of purpose is thus the impelling power of growth and progress. It is
both the despair and the inspiration of the Symmetrical Life. The reason why men are so
unsymmetrical is largely the fact that the ideal is so seldom studied or sought. The study
and search for symmetry makes great demands on the Will.
Endeavors to attain symmetry become by all odds the supremest instructors and
developers of Will power. If you will honestly study the suggestions of this chapter, and
resolutely and persistently devote your life to attainment of the Symmetrical Existence,
you will fare on as a hero, a constantly growing soul and a creator of highest Will.
Your want of symmetry shows your need of alliance with the nature of things, with all
noble spirits among men, and with that ruling "Power not ourselves that makes for
righteousness." The man who attempts to live without this is an anarchist.
He condemns and disregards the law of best estate. He lives without the essence of life.
He sluices out of himself all that guarantees and develops his human reality. He is slowly
committing suicide.
You exist to help. This requires that you seek to know what the nature of things has
designed for you. This is your goal, none other, your life, your immortality. Said Wilhelm
von Humboldt. "The end of man, or that which is prescribed by the eternal or immutable
dictates of reason, and not suggested by vague and transient desires, is the highest and
most harmonious development of his powers to a complete and consistent whole; the
object towards which every human being must ceaselessly direct his efforts, and on
which especially those who design to influence their fellowmen must ever keep their
eyes, is the individuality of power and development."
John Stuart Mill, in comment, said: "Human nature is not a machine to be built after a
model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow
and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which
make it a living thing."
And now, in all our work, it is best to remember that life is not a judgment to drudgery. It
is a glory, a dignity, an opportunity, a prelude and a reward. The true life has deep
content;
In itself,

In its worlds,
In its brotherhood,
In its death swallowing hope.
And it is for the body to rest, as well as to toil. And it is for mind to relax and change, as
well as to concentrate. And it is for the man to play, to rejoice with the hills, to throb with
the sea, to laugh with nature, as well as to struggle and pile up victories. But it is for the
Will to slumber not, to relax never, to go forth day and night, in the full majesty of
conquest.
FOR, TO THIS END CAME THE KING TO HIS THRONE.

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